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G.   P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
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re 

■  ■  ■-•,■■■•, 

THE       ^"'^^^"^'^^     RESEARCH 

CONQUEST  OF  BREAD 


BY 

P.  KROPOTKIN 

AUTHOR  OF  "FIELDS,  FACTORIES,  AND  WORKSHOPS" 
"THE   MEMOIRS  OF   A   REVOLUTIONIST,"  ETC. 


i  G.  p.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

)  NEW    YORK    AND    LONDON 

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eiOLOCICAL    RESEARCH 


PREFACE 


One  of  the  current  objections  to  Communism, 
and  Socialism  altogether,  is  that  the  idea  is  so  old, 
and  yet  it  could  never  be  realized.  Schemes  of 
ideal  States  haunted  the  thinkers  of  Ancient  Greece ; 
later  on,  the  early  Christians  joined  in  communist 
groups;  centuries  later,  large  communist  brother- 
hoods came  into  existence  during  the  Reform  move- 
ment. Then,  the  same  ideals  were  revived  during 
the  great  English  and  French  Revolutions;  and 
finally,  quite  lately,  in  1848,  a  revolution,  inspired 
to  a  great  extent  with  Socialist  ideals,  took  place 
in  France.  'And  yet,  you  see,"  we  are  told,  "how 
far  away  is  still  the  realization  of  your  schemes. 
Don't  you  think  that  there  is  some  fundamental 
error  in  your  understanding  of  human  nature  and 
its  needs?  " 

At  first  sight  this  objection  seems  very  serious. 
However,  the  moment  we  consider  human  history 
more  attentively,  it  loses  its  strength.  We  see, 
first,  that  himdreds  of  millions  of  men  have  suc- 
ceeded in  maintaining  amongst  themselves,  in  their 
village  communities,  for  many  hundreds  of  years, 
one  of  the  main  elements  of  Socialism  —  the  com- 
mon ownership  of  the  chief  instrument  of  produc- 
tion, the  land,  and  the  apportionment  of  the  same 
according  to  the  labour  capacities  of  the  different 


Jv  Preface 

families;  and  we  learn  that  if  the  communal  pos- 
session of  the  land  has  been  destroyed  in  Western 
Europe,  it  was  not  from  within,  but  from  without, 
by  the  governments  which  created  a  land  mono- 
poly in  favour  of  the  nobility  and  the  middle  classes. 
We  learn,  moreover,  that  the  mediaeval  cities  suc- 
ceeded in  maintaining  in  their  midst  for  several 
centuries  in  succession  a  certain  socialized  organi- 
zation of  production  and  trade;  that  these  centuries 
were  periods  of  a  rapid  intellectual,  industrial,  and 
artistic  progress;  and  that  the  decay  of  these  com- 
munal institutions  came  mainly  from  the  incapacity 
of  men  of  combining  the  village  with  the  city,  the 
peasant  with  the  citizen,  so  as  jointly  to  oppose 
the  growth  of  the  military  states,  which  destroyed 
the  free  cities. 

The  history  of  mankind,  thus  understood,  does 
not  offer,  then,  an  argument  against  Communism. 
It  appears,  on  the  contrary,  as  a  succession  of  en- 
deavours to  realize  some  sort  of  communist  organi- 
zation, endeavours  which  were  crowned  with  a 
partial  success  of  a  certain  duration;  and  all  we 
are  authorized  to  conclude  is,  that  mankind  has 
not  yet  foimd  the  proper  form  for  combining,  on 
commimistic  principles,  agriculture  \vith  a  sud- 
denly developed  industry  and  a  rapidly  growing 
international  trade.  The  latter  appears  especi- 
ally as  a  disturbing  element,  since  it  is  no  longer 
individuals  only,  or  cities,  that  enrich  themselves 
by  distant  commerce  and  export ;  but  whole  nations 
grow  rich  at  the  cost  of  those  nations  which  lag 
behind  in  their  industrial  development. 


Preface  ▼ 

These  conditions,  which  began  to  appear  by  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  took,  however,  their 
full  swing  in  the  nineteenth  century  only,  after 
the  Napoleonic  wars  came  to  an  end.  And  modem 
Communism  had  to  take  them  into  account. 

It  is  now  known  that  the  French  Revolution, 
apart  from  its  political  significance,  was  an  at- 
tempt made  by  the  French  people,  in  1793  and 
1794,  in  three  different  directions  more  or  less  akin 
to  Socialism.  It  was,  first,  the  equalization  of  for- 
tunes, by  means  of  an  income  tax  and  succession 
duties,  both  heavily  progressive,  as  also  by  a  direct 
confiscation  of  the  land  in  order  to  subdivide  it, 
and  by  heavy  war  taxes  levied  upon  the  rich  only. 
The  second  attempt  was  to  introduce  a  wide  national 
system  of  rationally  established  prices  of  all  commo- 
dities, for  which  the  real  cost  of  production  and 
moderate  trade  profits  had  to  be  taken  into  account. 
The  Convention  worked  hard  at  this  scheme,  and 
had  nearly  completed  its  work,  when  reaction  took 
the  overhand.  And  the  third  was  a  sort  of 
Municipal  Communism  as  regards  the  consump- 
tion of  some  objects  of  first  necessity,  bought 
by  the  mimicipalities,  and  sold  by  them  at  cost 
price. 

It  was  during  this  remarkable  movement,  which 
has  never  yet  been  properly  studied,  that  modem 
Socialism  was  bom  —  Fourierism  with  L'Ange, 
at  Lyons,  and  authoritarian  Communism  with 
Buonarotti,  Babeuf,  and  their  comrades.  And  it 
was  immediately  after  the  Great  Revolution  that 
the    three    great    theoretical   founders    of    modem 


vi  Preface 

Socialism  —  Fourier,  Saint  Simon,  and  Robert 
Owen,  as  well  as  Godwin  (the  No-State  Socialism) 
—  came  forward ;  while  the  secret  communist  socie- 
ties, originated  from  those  of  Buonarotti  and  Babeuf , 
gave  their  stamp  to  militant  Communism  for  the 
next  fifty  years. 

To  be  correct,  then,  we  must  say  that  modem 
Socialism  is  not  yet  a  himdred  years  old,  and  that, 
for  the  first  half  of  these  hundred  years,  two  nations 
only,  which  stood  at  the  head  of  the  industrial 
movement,  i.e.  Britain  and  France,  took  part  in  its 
elaboration.  Both  —  bleeding  at  that  time  from 
the  terrible  woimds  inflicted  upon  them  by  fifteen 
years  of  Napoleonic  wars,  and  both  enveloped  in 
the  great  European  reaction  that  had  come  from 
the  East. 

In  fact,  it  was  only  after  the  Revolution  of  July, 
1830,  in  France,  and  the  Reform  movement  of 
1830-32,  in  England,  had  shaken  off  that  terrible 
reaction,  that  the  discussion  of  Socialism  became 
possible  for  the  next  sixteen  to  eighteen  years. 
And  it  was  during  those  years  that  the  aspirations 
of  Fourier,  Saint  Simon,  and  Robert  Owen,  worked 
out  by  their  followers,  took  a  definite  shape,  and 
the  different  schools  of  Socialism  which  exist 
nowadays  were  defined. 

In  Britain,  Robert  Owen  and  his  followers  worked 
out  their  schemes  of  communist  villages,  agricul- 
tural and  industrial  at  the  same  time;  immense 
co-operative  associations  were  started  for  creating 
with  their  dividends  more  communist  colonies ;  and 
the  Great  Consolidated  Trades'  Union  was  fotinded 


Preface 


▼u 


—  the  foreninner  of  the  Labour  Parties  of  our  days 
and  the  International  Workingmen's  Association. 

In  France,  the  Fourierist  Consid^rant  issued  his 
remarkable  manifesto,  which  contains,  beautifully 
developed,  all  the  theoretical  considerations  upon 
the  growth  of  Capitalism,  which  are  now  described 
as  "Scientific  Socialism."  Proudhon  worked  out 
his  idea  of  Anarchism,  and  Mutualism,  without 
State  interference.  Ix)uis  Blanc  published  his  Organ- 
ization of  Labour,  which  became  later  on  the  pro- 
gramme of  Lassalle,  in  Germany.  Vidal  in  Rrance 
and  Lorenz  Stein  in  Germany  further  developed, 
in  two  remarkable  works,   published  in   1846  and 

1847  respectively,  the  theoretical  conceptions  of  Con- 
siderant;  and  finally  Vidal,  and  especially  Pecqueur 

—  the  latter  in  a  very  elaborate  work,  as  also  in  a 
series  of  Reports  —  developed  in  detail  the  system 
of  Collectivism,  which  he  wanted  the  Assembly  of 

1848  to  vote  in  the  shape  of  laws. 

However,  there  is  one  feature,  common  to  all  Social- 
ist schemes,  of  the  period,  which  must  be  noted.  The 
three  great  foimders  of  Socialism  who  wrote  at  the 
dawn  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  so  entranced  by 
the  wide  horizons  which  it  opened  before  them,  that 
they  looked  upon  it  as  a  new  revelation,  and  upon 
themselves  as  upon  the  foimders  of  a  new  religion. 
Socialism  had  to  be  a  religion,  and  they  had  to  regu- 
late its  march,  as  the  heads  of  a  new  church.  Besides, 
writing  during  the  period  of  reaction  which  had  fol- 
lowed the  French  Revolution,  and  seeing  more  its 
failures  than  its  successes,  they  did  not  trust  the 
masses,  and  they  did  not  appeal  to  them  for  bringing 


viii  Preface 

about  the  changes  which  they  thought  necessary. 
They  put  their  faith,  on  the  contrary,  in  some  great 
ruler.  He  would  understand  the  new  revelation; 
he  would  be  convinced  of  its  desirability  by  the  suc- 
cessful experiments  of  their  phalansteries,  or  associa- 
tions; and  he  would  peacefully  accomplish  by  the 
means  of  his  own  authority  the  revolution  which 
would  bring  well-being  and  happiness  to  mankind. 
A  military  genius,  Napoleon,  had  just  been  ruling 
Europe.  .  .  .  Why  should  not  a  social  genius  come 
forward  and  carry  Europe  with  him  and  transfer 
the  new  Gospel  into  life  ?  .  .  .  That  faith  was  rooted 
very  deep,  and  it  stood  for  a  long  time  in  the  way 
of  Socialism;  its  traces  are  ever  seen  amongst  us, 
down  to  the  present  day. 

It  was  only  during  the  years  1840-48,  when  the 
approach  of  the  Revolution  was  felt  everywhere, 
and  the  proletarians  were  beginning  to  plant  the 
banner  of  Socialism  on  the  barricades,  that  faith 
in  the  people  began  to  enter  once  more  the  hearts 
of  the  social  schemers:  faith,  on  the  one  side,  in 
Republican  Democracy,  and  on  the  other  side  in  free 
association  and  the  organizing  powers  of  the  working- 
men  themselves. 

But  then  came  the  Revolution  of  February,  1848, 
the  middle-class  Republic,  and  —  with  it,  broken 
hopes.  Four  months  only  after  the  proclamation 
of  the  Republic,  the  June  insurrection  of  the  Paris 
proletarians  broke  out,  and  it  was  crushed  in  blood. 
The  wholesale  shooting  of  the  working-men,  the 
mass  deportations  to  New  Guinea,  and  finally  the 
Napoleonian   coup   d'Stat  followed.    The   Socialists 


Preface 


IX 


were  prosecuted  with  fury,  and  the  weeding  out  was 
so  terrible  and  so  thorough  that  for  the  next  twelve 
or  fifteen  years  the  very  traces  of  Socialism  disap- 
peared; its  literature  vanished  so  completely  that 
even  names,  once  so  familiar  before  1848,  were 
entirely  forgotten;  ideas  which  were  then  current 
—  the  stock  ideas  of  the  Socialists  before  1848  — 
were  wiped  out  of  the  memories  and  were  taken, 
later  on,  by  the  present  generation,  for  new  dis- 
coveries. 

However,  when  a  new  revival  came,  about  1866, 
when  Communism  and  Collectivism  once  more 
came  forward,  the  conception  as  to  the  means  of 
their  realization  had  imdergone  a  deep  change. 
The  old  faith  in  PoHtical  Democracy  was  gone,  and 
the  first  principles  upon  which  the  Paris  working- 
men  agreed  with  the  British  trade-unionists  and 
Owenites,  when  they  met  in  1866  at  London,  was 
that  "  the  emancipation  of  the  working-men  must 
be  accomplished  by  the  working-men  themselves." 
Upon  another  point  they  also  fell  in.  It  was  that 
the  labour  unions  themselves  would  have  to  get  hold 
of  the  instruments  of  production,  and  organize  pro- 
duction themselves.  The  French  idea  of  the  Fouri- 
erist  and  Mutualist '  'Association' '  thus  joined  hands 
with  Robert  Owen's  idea  of  "The  Great  Consolidated 
Trades'  Union,"  which  was  extended  now,  so  as  to 
become  an  International  Working-men's  Association. 

Again  this  new  revival  of  Socialism  lasted  but 
a  few  years.  Soon  came  the  war  of  1 870-1871, 
the  uprising  of  the  Paris  Commune  —  and  again 
the   free   development   of   Socialism   was   rendered 


X  Preface 

impossible  in  France.  But  while  Germany  accepted 
now  from  the  hands  of  its  German  teachers,  Marx 
and  Engels,  the  Socialism  of  the  French  "forty- 
eighters"  —  the  Socialism  of  Considerant  and  Louis 
Blanc,  and  the  Collectivism  of  Pecqueur,  —  France 
made  a  further  step  forward. 

In  March,  187 1,  Paris  had  proclaimed  that  hence- 
forward it  would  not  wait  for  the  retardatory  portions 
of  France,  and  intended  to  start  within  its  Com- 
mune its  own  social  development. 

The  movement  was  too  short-lived  to  give  any 
positive  result.  It  remained  communalist  only. 
But  the  working-classes  of  the  old  International 
saw  at  once  its  historical  significance.  They  under- 
stood that  the  free  commime  would  be  henceforth 
the  medium  in  which  the  ideas  of  modem  Socialism 
may  come  to  realization.  The  free  agro-industrial 
communes,  of  which  so  much  was  spoken  in  1848, 
need  not  be  small  phalansteries,  or  small  com- 
munities of  2000  persons.  They  must  be  vast 
agglomerations,  like  Paris,  or,  still  better,  small 
territories.  These  communes  would  federate,  even 
irrespectively  of  national  frontiers  (like  the  Cinque 
Ports,  or  the  Hansa)  ;  and  large  labour  associations 
might  come  into  existence  for  the  inter-communal 
service  of  the  railways,  the  docks,  and  so  on.  Such 
were  the  ideas  which  began  vaguely  to  circulate 
after  1871  amongst  the  thinking  working-men, 
especially  in  the  Latin  countries.  In  some  such 
organization,  the  details  of  which  Hfe  itself  would 
settle,  the  labour  circles  of  these  countries  saw  the 
medium  through  which  Socialist  forms  of  life  could 


Preface 


XI 


find  a  much  easier  realization  than  through  the 
CoUectivist  system  of  the  State  Socialists. 

These  are  the  ideas  to  which  I  have  endeavoured 
to  give  a  more  or  less  definite  expression  in  this 
book. 

Looking  back  now  at  the  years  that  have  passed 
since  this  book  was  written,  I  can  say  in  full  con- 
science that  its  leading  ideas  must  have  been  correct. 
The  State  Socialism  of  the  coUectivist  system  has 
certainly  made  some  progress.  State  railways, 
State  banking,  and  State  trade  in  spirits  have  been 
introduced  here  and  there.  But  every  step  made 
in  this  direction,  even  though  it  resulted  in  the 
cheapening  of  a  given  commodity,  was  found  to  be 
a  new  obstacle  in  the  struggle  of  the  working-men 
for  their  emancipation.  So  that  we  find  now 
amongst  the  working-men,  especially  in  England, 
the  idea  that  even  the  working  of  such  a  vast  national 
property  as  a  railway-net  could  be  much  better 
handled  by  a  Federated  Union  of  railway  employes, 
than  by  a  State  organization. 

On  the  other  side,  we  see  that  countless  attempts 
have  been  made  all  over  Europe  and  America, 
the  leading  idea  of  which  is,  on  the  one  side,  to  get 
into  the  hands  of  the  working-men  themselves  wide 
branches  of  production,  and,  on  the  other  side, 
always  to  widen  in  the  cities  the  circles  of  the  func- 
tions which  the  city  performs  in  the  interest  of 
its  inhabitants.  Trade-imionism,  with  a  growing 
tendency  towards  organizing  the  different  trades 
internationally,  and  of  being  not  only  an  instru- 
ment for  improving  the  conditions  of  labour,  but 


Ml  Preface 

also  to  become  an  organization  which  might,  at  a 
given  moment,  take  into  its  hands  the  manage- 
ment of  production;  Co-operativism,  both  for  pro- 
duction and  for  distribution,  both  in  industry  and 
agriculture,  and  attempts  at  combining  both  sorts 
of  co-operation  in  experimental  colonies ;  and  finally, 
the  immensely  varied  field  of  the  so-called  Municipal 
Socialism  —  these  are  the  three  directions  in  which 
the  greatest  amount  of  creative  power  has  been 
developed  lately. 

Of  course,  none  of  these  may,  in  any  degree,  be 
taken  as  a  substitute  for  Communism,  or  even  for 
Socialism,  both  of  which  imply  the  common  posses- 
sion of  the  instruments  of  production.  But  we  cer- 
tainly must  look  at  all  the  just-mentioned  attempts 
as  upon  experiments  —  like  those  which  Owen, 
Foiirier,  and  Saint  Simon  tried  in  their  colonies  — 
experiments  which  prepare  human  thought  to  con- 
ceive some  of  the  practical  forms  in  which  a  com- 
mimist  society  might  find  its  expression.  The 
synthesis  of  all  these  partial  experiments  will  have 
to  be  made  some  day  by  the  constructive  genius  of 
some  one  of  the  civilized  nations,  and  it  will  be  done. 
But  samples  of  the  bricks  out  of  which  the  great 
synthetic  building  will  have  to  be  built,  and  even 
samples  of  some  of  its  rooms,  are  being  prepared  by 
the  immense  effort  of  the  constructive  genius  of  man. 

Bromley,  Kent. 

October  t  1906. 


9cr;pps-  ;nstitution 


FOR 


mOLOGICAU    Re«A^CH 


CONTENTS 


PAGI 

CHAPTER  I 
Our  Riches i 

CHAPTER   II 
Well-Being  for  All 15 

CHAPTER   III 
Anarchist  Communism 29 

CHAPTER   IV 
Expropriation 44 

CHAPTER  V 
Food ,    .    .    .       61 

CHAPTER   VI 
Dwellings 96 

CHAPTER   VTI 
Clothing    .....    o no 

CHAPTER   VIII 
Ways  and  Means 114 

CHAPTER   IX 
The  Need  for  Luxury 124 

CHAPTER  X 
Agreeable  Work 144 

CHAPTER  XI 

Free  Agreement 156 

xiii 


xlv  Contents 

PAGE 

CHAPTER   XII 
Objections , 176 

CHAPTER    XIII 
The  Collectivist  Wages  System .      200 

CHAPTER   XIV 
Consumption  and  Production ,    .     222 


CHAPTER  XV 
The  Division  of  Labour 232 

CHAPTER   XVI 
The  Decentralization  of  Industry 237 

CHAPTER   XVII 
Agriculture 251 

Notes 280 


THE   CONQUEST   OF   BREAD 


CHAPTER  I 
Our  Riches 


The  human  race  has  travelled  far  since  those 
bygone  ages  when  men  used  to  fashion  their  rude 
implements  of  flint,  and  lived  on  the  precarious 
spoils  of  the  chase,  leaying  to  their  children  for 
their  only  heritage  a  shelter  beneath  the  rocks,  some 
poor  utensils  —  and  Nature,  vast,  imunderstood, 
and  terrific,  with  whom  they  had  to  fight  for  their 
wretched  existence. 

During  the  agitated  times  which  have  elapsed 
since,  and  which  have  lasted  for  many  thousand 
years,  mankind  has  nevertheless  amassed  untold 
treasures.  It  has  cleared  the  land,  dried  the  marshes, 
pierced  the  forests,  made  roads;  it  has  been  build- 
ing, inventing,  observing,  reasoning ;  it  has  created  a 
complex  machinery,  wrested  her  secrets  from  Nature, 
and  finally  it  has  made  a  servant  of  steam.  And  the 
result  is,  that  now  the  child  of  the  civilized  man 
finds  ready,  at  its  birth,  to  his  hand  an  immense 
capital  accumulated  by  those  who  have  gone  before 
him.     And   this   capital   enables   him   to   acquire, 

I 


a  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

merely  by  his  own  labour,  combined  with  the  labotu* 
of  others,  riches  surpassing  the  dreams  of  the  Orient, 
expressed  in  the  fairy  tales  of  the  Thousand  and 
One  Nights. 

The  soil  is  cleared  to  a  great  extent,  fit  for  the 
reception  of  the  best  seeds,  ready  to  make  a  rich 
return  for  the  skill  and  labour  spent  upon  it  — 
a  return  more  than  sufficient  for  all  the  wants  of 
humanity.     The  methods  of  cultivation  are  known. 

On  the  wide  prairies  of  America  each  hundred 
men,  with  the  aid  of  powerful  machinery,  can  pro- 
duce in  a  few  months  enough  wheat  to  maintain 
ten  thousand  people  for  a  whole  year.  And  where 
man  wishes  to  double  his  produce,  to  treble  it,  to 
multiply  it  a  hundred-fold,  he  makes  the  soil,  gives 
to  each  plant  the  requisite  care,  and  thus  obtains 
enormous  returns.  While  the  hunter  of  old  had  to 
scour  fifty  or  sixty  square  miles  to  find  food  for  his 
family,  the  civilized  man  supports  his  household, 
with  far  less  pains,  and  far  more  certainty,  on  a 
thousandth  part  of  that  space.  Climate  is  no  longer 
an  obstacle.  When  the  sun  fails,  man  replaces  it 
by  artificial  heat;  and  we  see  the  coming  of  a  time 
when  artificial  light  also  will  be  used  to  stimulate 
vegetation.  Meanwhile,  by  the  use  of  glass  and  hot 
water  pipes,  man  renders  a  given  space  ten  and 
fifty  times  more  productive  than  it  was  in  its  natural 
state. 

The  prodigies  accomplished  in  industry  are  still 
more  striking.  With  the  co-operation  of  those 
intelligent  beings,  modem  machines  —  themselves 
the  fruit  of  three  or  four  generations  of  inventors, 


Our  Riches  3 

mostly  -unknown  —  a  hundred  men  manufacture 
now  the  stuff  to  clothe  ten  thousand  persons  for  a 
period  of  two  years.  In  well-managed  coal  mines 
the  labour  of  a  hundred  miners  furnishes  each  year 
enough  fuel  to  warm  ten  thousand  families  under 
an  inclement  sky.  And  we  have  lately  witnessed 
twice  the  spectacle  of  a  wonderful  city  springing  up 
in  a  few  months  at  Paris,*  without  interrupting  in 
the  slightest  degree  the  regular  work  of  the  French 
nation. 

And  if  in  manufactures  as  in  agriculture,  and  as 
indeed  through  our  whole  social  system,  the  labour, 
the  discoveries,  and  the  inventions  of  our  ancestors 
profit  chiefly  the  few,  it  is  none  the  less  certain  that 
mankind  in  general,  aided  by  the  creatures  of  steel 
and  iron  which  it  already  possesses,  could  already 
procure  an  existence  of  wealth  and  ease  for  every 
one  of  its  members. 

Truly,  we  are  rich,  far  richer  than  we  think;  rich 
in  what  we  already  possess,  richer  still  in  the  pos- 
sibilities of  production  of  our  actual  mechanical 
outfit;  richest  of  all  in  what  we  might  win  from  our 
soil,  from  our  manufactures,  from  our  science,  from 
our  technical  knowledge,  were  they  but  applied  to 
bringing  about  the  well-being  of  all. 

II 

We,  in  civilized  societies,  are  rich.  Why  then 
are  the  many  poor?  Why  this  painful  drudgery  for 
the  masses?     Why,  even  to  the  best  paid  workman, 

*  For  the  International  Paris  Exhibitions  of  1889  and  1900, 


4  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

this  tincertainty  for  the  morrow,  in  the  midst  of 
all  the  wealth  inherited  from  the  past,  and  in  spite 
of  the  powerful  means  of  production,  which  could 
ensure  comfort  to  all  in  return  for  a  few  hours  of 
daily  toil? 

The  Socialists  have  said  it  and  repeated  it  un- 
wearyingly.  Daily  they  reiterate  it,  demonstrating 
it  by  arguments  taken  from  all  the  sciences.  It 
is  because  all  that  is  necessary  for  production  — 
the  land,  the  mines,  the  highways,  machinery,  food, 
shelter,  education,  knowledge  —  all  have  been 
seized  by  the  few  in  the  course  of  that  long  story 
of  robbery,  enforced  migration  and  wars,  of  ignor- 
ance and  oppression,  which  has  been  the  life  of  the 
himian  race  before  it  had  learned  to  subdue  the 
forces  of  Nature.  It  is  because,  taking  advantage 
of  alleged  rights  acquired  in  the  past,  these  few 
appropriate  to-day  two-thirds  of  the  products  of 
human  labour,  and  then  squander  them  in  the 
most  stupid  and  shameful  way.  It  is  because, 
having  reduced  the  masses  to  a  point  at  which  they 
have  not  the  means  of  subsistence  for  a  month,  or 
even  for  a  week  in  advance,  the  few  only  allow  the 
many  to  work  on  condition  of  themselves  receiving 
the  lion's  share.  It  is  because  these  few  prevent 
the  remainder  of  men  from  producing  the  things 
they  need,  and  force  them  to  produce,  not  the 
necessaries  of  life  for  all,  but  whatever  offers  the 
greatest  profits  to  the  monopolists.  In  this  is  the 
substance  of  all  Socialism. 

Take,  indeed,  a  civilized  country.  The  forests 
which  once  covered  it  have  been  cleared,  the  marshes 


Our  Riches  5 

drained,  the  climate  improved.  It  has  been  made 
habitable.  The  soil,  which  bore  formerly  only  a 
coarse  vegetation,  is  covered  to-day  'wdth  rich  har- 
vests. The  rock-walls  in  the  valleys  are  laid  out  in 
terraces  and  covered  with  vines  bearing  golden  fruit. 
The  wild  plants,  which  yielded  nought  but  acrid 
berries,  or  imeatable  roots,  have  been  transformed 
by  generations  of  culture  into  succulent  vegetables, 
or  trees  covered  with  delicious  fruits.  Thousands 
of  highways  and  railroads  furrow  the  earth,  and 
pierce  the  moim tains.  The  shriek  of  the  engine  is 
heard  in  the  wild  gorges  of  the  Alps,  the  Caucasus, 
and  the  Himalayas.  The  rivers  have  been  made 
navigable;  the  coasts,  carefully  surveyed,  are  easy 
of  access;  artificial  harbours,  laboriously  dug  out 
and  protected  against  the  fury  of  the  sea,  afford 
shelter  to  the  ships.  Deep  shafts  have  been  sunk 
in  the  rocks;  labyrinths  of  undergroimd  galleries 
have  been  dug  out  where  coal  may  be  raised  or 
minerals  extracted.  At  the  crossings  of  the  high- 
ways great  cities  have  sprung  up,  and  within  their 
borders  all  the  treasures  of  industry,  science,  and 
art  have  been  accumulated. 

Whole  generations,  that  lived  and  died  in  misery, 
oppressed  and  ill-treated  by  their  masters,  and  worn 
out  by  toil,  have  handed  on  this  immense  inheri- 
tance to  our  centiuy. 

For  thousands  of  years  millions  of  men  have 
labotu-ed  to  clear  the  forests,  to  drain  the  marshes, 
and  to  open  up  highways  by  land  and  water.  Every 
rood  of  soil  we  cultivate  in  Eiurope  has  been  watered 
by  the  sweat  of  several  races  of  men.     Every  acre 


6  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

has  its  story  of  enforced  labour,  of  intolerable  toil, 
of  the  people's  sufferings.  Every  mile  of  railway, 
every  yard  of  tunnel,  has  received  its  share  of 
human  blood. 

The  shafts  of  the  mine  still  bear  on  their  rocky 
walls  the  marks  made  by  the  pick  of  the  workman 
who  toiled  to  excavate  them.  The  space  between 
each  prop  in  the  imdergroimd  galleries  might  be 
marked  as  a  miner's  grave;  and  who  can  tell  what 
each  of  these  graves  has  cost,  in  tears,  in  privations, 
in  unspeakable  wretchedness  to  the  family  who 
depended  on  the  scanty  wage  of  the  worker  cut  off 
in  his  prime  by  fire-damp,  rock-fall,  or  flood? 

The  cities,  bound  together  by  railroads  and  water- 
ways, are  organisms  which  have  lived  through 
centuries.  Dig  beneath  them  and  you  find,  one 
above  another,  the  foundations  of  streets,  of  houses, 
of  theatres,  of  public  buildings.  Search  into  their 
history  and  you  will  see  how  the  civilization  of  the 
town,  its  industry,  its  special  characteristics,  have 
slowly  grown  and  ripened  through  the  co-operation 
of  generations  of  its  inhabitants  before  it  could 
become  what  it  is  to-day.  And  even  to-day,  the 
value  of  each  dwelling,  factory,  and  warehouse, 
which  has  been  created  by  the  accumulated  labour 
of  the  millions  of  workers,  now  dead  and  buried,  is 
only  maintained  by  the  very  presence  and  labour  of 
legions  of  the  men  who  now  inhabit  that  special 
comer  of  the  globe.  Each  of  the  atoms  composing 
what  we  call  the  Wealth  of  Nations  owes  its  value 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  great  whole. 
What  would  a  London  dockyard  or  a  great  Paris 


Our  Riches  f 

warehouse  be  if  they  were  not  situated  in  these  great 
centres  of  international  commerce?  What  would 
become  of  our  mtaes,  our  factories,  our  workshops, 
and  our  railways,  without  the  immense  quantities  of 
merchandise  transported  every  day  by  sea  and  land  ? 

Millions  of  human  beings  have  laboured  to  create 
this  civilization  on  which  we  pride  ourselves  to-day. 
Other  millions,  scattered  through  the  globe,  labour 
to  maintain  it.  Without  them  nothing  would  be 
left  in  fifty  years  but  ruins. 

There  is  not  even  a  thought,  or  an  invention, 
which  is  not  common  property,  bom  of  the  past 
and  the  present.  Thousands  of  inventors,  known 
and  imknown,  who  have  died  in  poverty,  have 
co-operated  in  the  iavention  of  each  of  these 
machines  which  embody  the  genius  of  man. 

Thousands  of  writers,  of  poets,  of  scholars,  have 
laboured  to  increase  knowledge,  to  dissipate  error, 
and  to  create  that  atmosphere  of  scientific  thought, 
without  which  the  marvels  of  our  century  could 
never  have  appeared.  And  these  thousands  of 
philosophers,  of  poets,  of  scholars,  of  inventors,  have 
themselves  been  supported  by  the  labour  of  past 
centuries.  They  have  been  upheld  and  nourished 
through  life,  both  physically  and  mentally,  by 
legions  of  workers  and  craftsmen  of  all  sorts.  They 
have  drawn  their  motive  force  from  the  environ- 
ment. 

The  genius  of  a  Seguin,  a  Mayer,  a  Grove,  has 
certainly  done  more  to  launch  industry  in  new 
directions  than  all  the  capitalists  in  the  world. 
But  men  of  genius  are  themselves  the  children  of 


8  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

industry  as  well  as  of  science.  Not  until  thousands 
of  steam-engines  had  been  working  for  years  before 
all  eyes,  constantly  transforming  heat  into  dynamic 
force,  and  this  force  into  soimd,  light,  and  elec- 
tricity, could  the  insight  of  genius  proclaim  the 
mechanical  origin  and  the  unity  of  the  physical 
forces.  And  if  we,  children  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
ttuy,  have  at  last  grasped  this  idea,  if  we  know  now 
how  to  apply  it,  it  is  again  because  daily  experience 
has  prepared  the  way.  The  thinkers  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  saw  and  declared  it,  but  the  idea 
remained  undeveloped,  because  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury had  not  grown  up  like  ours,  side  by  side  with 
the  steam-engine.  Imagine  the  decades  that  might 
have  passed  while  we  remained  in  ignorance  of  this 
law,  which  has  revolutionized  modem  industry, 
had  Watt  not  foimd  at  Soho  skilled  workmen  to 
embody  his  ideas  in  metal,  bringing  all  the  parts  of 
his  engine  to  perfection,  so  that  steam,  pent  in  a 
complete  mechanism,  and  rendered  more  docile 
than  a  horse,  more  manageable  than  water,  became 
at  last  the  very  soul  of  modem  industry. 

Every  machine  has  had  the  same  history  —  a 
long  record  of  sleepless  nights  and  of  poverty,  of 
disillusions  and  of  joys,  of  partial  improvements 
discovered  by  several  generations  of  nameless 
workers,  who  have  added  to  the  original  invention 
these  little  nothings,  without  which  the  most  fertile 
idea  would  remain  fruitless.  More  than  that :  every 
new  invention  is  a  synthesis,  the  resultant  of  in- 
numerable invention  c.  which  have  preceded  it  in 
the  vast  field  of  mechanics  and  industry. 


Our  Riches  9 

Science  and  industry,  knowledge  and  applica- 
tion, discovery  and  .practical  realization  leading 
to  new  discoveries,  cunning  of  brain  and  of  hand, 
toil  of  mind  and  muscle  —  all  work  together.  Each 
discovery,  each  advance,  each  increase  in  the  sum 
of  human  riches,  owes  its  being  to  the  physical  and 
mental  travail  of  the  past  and  the  present. 

By  what  right  then  can  any  one  whatever  appro- 
priate the  least  morsel  of  this  immense  whole  and 
say  —  This  is  mine,  not  yours  ? 

Ill 

It  has  come  about,  however,  in  the  course  of 
the  ages  traversed  by  the  human  race,  that  all  that 
enables  man  to  produce,  and  to  increase  his  power 
of  production,  has  been  seized  by  the  few.  Some- 
time, perhaps,  we  will  relate  how  this  came  to  pass. 
For  the  present  let  it  suffice  to  state  the  fact  and 
analyse  its  consequences. 

To-day  the  soil,  which  actually  owes  its  value  to 
the  needs  of  an  ever-increasing  population,  belongs 
to  a  minority  who  prevent  the  people  from  culti- 
vating it  —  or  do  not  allow  them  to  cultivate  it 
according  to  modem  methods. 

The  mines,  though  they  represent  the  labour  of 
several  generations,  and  derive  their  sole  value  from 
the  requirements  of  the  industry  of  a  nation  and  the 
density  of  the  population  —  the  mines  also  belong 
to  the  few ;  and  these  few  jestrict  the  output  of  coal, 
or  prevent  it  entirely,  if  they  find  more  profitable 
investments    for    their    capital.     Machinery,    too, 


lo  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

has  become  the  exclusive  property  of  the  few,  and 
even  when  a  machine  incontestably  represents  the 
improvements  added  to  the  original  rough  invention 
by  three  or  four  generations  of  workers,  it  none  the 
less  belongs  to  a  few  owners.  And  if  the  descen- 
dants of  the  very  inventor  who  constructed  the  first 
machine  for  lace-making,  a  century  ago,  were  to 
present  themselves  to-day  in  a  lace  factory  at  B^le 
or  Nottingham,  and  demand  their  rights,  they  would 
be  told:  "Hands  off!  this  machine  is  not  yours," 
and  they  would  be  shot  down  if  they  attempted 
to  take  possession  of  it. 

The  railways,  which  would  be  useless  as  so  much 
old  iron  without  the  teeming  population  of  Europe, 
its  industry,  its  commerce,  and  its  marts,  belong 
to  a  few  shareholders,  ignorant  perhaps  of  the  where- 
abouts of  the  lines  of  rails  which  yield  them  revenues 
greater  than  those  of  medieval  kings.  And  if  the 
children  of  those  who  perished  by  thousands  while 
excavating  the  railway  cuttings  and  timnels  were 
to  assemble  one  day,  crowding  in  their  rags  and 
hunger,  to  demand  bread  from  the  shareholders, 
they  would  be  met  with  bayonets  and  grape-shot, 
to  disperse  them  and  safeguard  "vested  interests." 

In  virtue  of  this  monstrous  system,  the  son  of  the 
worker,  on  entering  life,  finds  no  field  which  he  may 
till,  no  machine  which  he  may  tend,  no  mine  in 
which  he  may  dig,  without  accepting  to  leave  a  great 
part  of  what  he  will  produce  to  a  master.  He  must 
sell  his  labour  for  a  scant  and  uncertain  wage.  His 
father  and  his  grandfather  have  toiled  to  drain  this 
fieki,  to  build  this  mill,  to  perfect  this  machine 


Our  Riches  n 

They  gave  to  the  work  the  full  meastire  of  their 
strength,  and  what  more  could  they  give?  But 
their  heir  comes  into  the  world  poorer  than  the 
lowest  savage.  If  he  obtains  leave  to  till  the  fields, 
it  is  on  condition  of  surrendering  a  quarter  of  the 
produce  to  his  master,  and  another  quarter  to  the 
government  and  the  middlemen.  And  this  tax, 
levied  upon  him  by  the  State,  the  capitalist,  the 
lord  of  the  manor,  and  the  middleman,  is  always 
increasing ;  it  rarely  leaves  him  the  power  to  improve 
his  system  of  culture.  If  he  ttuns  to  industry,  he 
is  allowed  to  work  —  though  not  always  even  that 
—  only  on  condition  that  he  peld  a  half  or  two- 
thirds  of  the  product  to  him  whom  the  land  recog- 
nizes as  the  owner  of  the  machine. 

We  cry  shame  on  the  feudal  baron  who  forbade 
the  peasant  to  turn  a  clod  of  earth  unless  he  sur- 
rendered to  his  lord  a  fourth  of  his  crop.  We  call 
those  the  barbarous  times.  But  if  the  forms  have 
changed,  the  relations  have  remained  the  same,  and 
the  worker  is  forced,  under  the  name  of  free  con- 
tract, to  accept  feudal  obligations.  For,  turn  where 
he  will,  he  can  find  no  better  conditions.  Every- 
thing has  become  private  property,  and  he  must 
accept,  or  die  of  hunger. 

The  result  of  this  state  of  things  is  that  all  our 
production  tends  in  a  wrong  direction.  Enter- 
prise takes  no  thought  for  the  needs  of  the  com- 
mtmity.  Its  only  aim  is  to  increase  the  gains  of  the 
speculator.  Hence  the  constant  fluctuations  of  trade, 
the  periodical  industrial  crises,  each  of  which  throws 
scores  of  thousands  of  workers  on  the  streets. 


I  ft  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

The  working  people  cannot  purchase  with  their 
wages  the  wealth  which  they  have  produced,  and 
industry  seeks  foreign  markets  among  the  monied" 
classes  of  other  nations.  In  the  East,  in  Africa, 
everywhere,  in  Egypt,  Tonkin  or  the  Congo,  the 
European  is  thus  botind  to  promote  the  growth 
of  serfdom.  And  so  he  does.  But  soon  he  finds 
ever5rwhere  similar  competitors.  All  the  nations 
evolve  on  the  same  lines,  and  wars,  perpetual  wars, 
break  out  for  the  right  of  precedence  in  the  market. 
Wars  for  the  possession  of  the  East,  wars  for  the 
empire  of  the  sea,  wars  to  impose  duties  on  im- 
ports and  to  dictate  conditions  to  neighbouring 
states;  wars  against  those  "blacks"  who  revolt! 
The  roar  of  the  cannon  never  ceases  in  the  world, 
whole  races  are  massacred,  the  states  of  Europe 
spend  a  third  of  their  budgets  in  armaments; 
and  we  know  how  heavily  these  taxes  fall  on  the 
workers. 

Education  still  remains  the  privilege  of  a  small 
minority,  for  it  is  idle  to  talk  of  education  when 
the  workman's  child  is  forced,  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen, to  go  down  into  the  mine  or  to  help  his  father 
on  the  farm.  It  is  idle  to  talk  of  studies  to  the 
worker,  who  comes  home  in  the  evening  crushed 
by  excessive  toil  with  its  brutalizing  atmosphere. 
Society  is  thus  bound  to  remain  divided  into  two 
hostile  camps,  and  in  such  conditions  freedom  is  a 
vain  word.  The  Radical  begins  by  demanding  a 
greater  extension  of  political  rights,  but  he  soon  sees 
that  the  breath  of  liberty  leads  to  the  uplifting  of 
the  proletariat,  and  then  he  turns  round,  changes 


Our  Riches  13 

his  opinions,  and  reverts  to  repressive  legislation 
and  government  by  the  sword. 

A  vast  array  of  courts,  judges,  executioners, 
policemen,  and  gaolers  is  needed  to  uphold  these 
privileges;  and  this  array  gives  rise  in  its  turn  to  a 
whole  system  of  espionage,  of  false  witness,  of  spies, 
of  threats  and  corruption. 

The  system  under  which  we  live  checks  in  its  turn 
the  growth  of  the  social  sentiment.  We  all  know 
that  without  uprightness,  without  self-respect,  with- 
out sympathy  and  mutual  aid,  human  kind  must 
perish,  as  perish  the  few  races  of  animals  living  by 
rapine,  or  the  slave-keeping  ants.  But  such  ideas 
are  not  to  the  taste  of  the  ruling  classes,  and  they 
have  elaborated  a  whole  system  of  pseudo-science 
to  teach  the  contrary. 

Fine  sermons  have  been  preached  on  the  text  that 
those  who  have  should  share  with  those  who  have 
not,  but  he  who  would  act  out  this  principle  is 
speedily  informed  that  these  beautiful  sentiments 
are  all  very  weU  in  poetry,  but  not  in  practice. 
"To  lie  is  to  degrade  and  besmirch  oneself,"  we  say, 
and  yet  all  civilized  "life  becomes  one  huge  lie.  We 
accustom  ourselves  and  otu-  children  to  hypocrisy, 
to  the  practice  of  a  double-faced  moraHty.  And 
since  the  brain  is  ill  at  ease  among  lies,  we  cheat 
ourselves  with  sophistry.  Hypocrisy  and  sophistry 
become  the  second  nature  of  the  civilized  man. 

But  a  society  cannot  Hve  thus;  it  must  return  to 
truth  or  cease  to  exist. 

Thus  the  consequences  which  spring  from  the 
original  act  of  monopoly  spread  through  the  whole 


14  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  social  life.  Under  pain  of  death,  human  societies 
are  forced  to  return  to  first  principles :  the  means  of 
production  being  the  collective  work  of  humanity, 
the  product  should  be  the  collective  property  of  the 
race.  Individual  appropriation  is  neither  just  nor 
serviceable.  All  belongs  to  all.  All  things  are  for 
all  men,  since  all  men  have  need  of  them,  since  all 
men  have  worked  in  the  measure  of  their  strength 
to  produce  them,  and  since  it  is  not  possible  to 
evaluate  every  one's  part  in  the  production  of  the 
world's  wealth. 

All  things  are  for  all.  Here  is  an  immense  stock 
of  tools  and  implements;  here  are  all  those  iron 
slaves  which  we  call  machines,  which  saw  and  plane, 
spin  and  weave  for  us,  unmaking  and  remaking, 
working  up  raw  matter  to  produce  the  marvels  of 
our  time.  But  nobody  has  the  right  to  seize  a 
single  one  of  these  machines  and  say,  "This  is  mine; 
if  you  want  to  use  it  you  must  pay  me  a  tax  on  each 
of  your  products,"  any  more  than  the  feudal  lord 
of  medieval  times  had  the  right  to  say  to  the  peasant, 
"This  hill,  this  meadow  belong  to  me,  and  you  must 
pay  me  a  tax  on  every  sheaf  of  com  you  reap,  on 
every  rick  you  build." 

All  is  for  all!  If  the  man  and  the  woman  bear 
their  fair  share  of  work,  they  have  a  right  to  their 
fair  share  of  all  that  is  produced  by  all,  and  that 
share  is  enough  to  secure  them  well-being.  No  more 
of  such  vague  formulas  as  "The  Right  to  work," 
or  "To  each  the  whole  result  of  his  labour."  What 
we  proclaim  is  The  Right  to  Well-Being:  Well- 
Being  for  All! 


CHAPTER  II 
Well-Being  for  All 


Well-Beinq  for  all  is  not  a  dream.  It  is  possible, 
realizable,  owing  to  all  that  our  ancestors  have  done 
to  increase  our  powers  of  production. 

We  know,  indeed,  that  the  producers,  although 
they  constitute  hardly  one-third  of  the  inhabitants 
of  civilized  countries,  even  now  produce  such  quan- 
tities of  goods  that  a  certain  degree  of  comfort  could 
be  brought  to  every  hearth.  We  know  further  that 
if  all  those  who  squander  to-day  the  fruits  of  others* 
toil  were  forced  to  employ  their  leisure  in  useful 
work,  our  wealth  would  increase  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  producers,  and  more.  Finally,  we 
know  that  contrary  to  the  theory  enunciated  by 
Malthus  - —  that  Oracle  of  middle-class  Economics 
—  the  productive  powers  of  the  human  race  increase 
at  a  much  more  rapid  ratio  than  its  powers  of  repro- 
duction. The  more  thickly  men  are  crowded  on  the 
soil,  the  more  rapid  is  the  growth  of  their  wealth- 
creating  power. 

Thus,  although  the  population  of  England  has 
only  increased  from  1844  to  1890  by  62  per  cent,  its 
production  has  grown,  to  say  the  least,  at  double 
that  rate  —  to  wit,  by  1 30  per  cent.  In  France, 
where  the  population  has  grown  more  slowly,  the 

15 


1 6  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

increase  in  production  is  nevertheless  very  rapid. 
Notwithstanding  the  crises  through  which  agricul- 
ture is  frequently  passing,  notwithstanding  State 
interference,  the  blood-tax  (conscription),  and  specu- 
lative commerce  and  finance,  the  production  of  wheat 
in  France  has  increased  fourfold,  and  industrial 
production  more  than  tenfold,  in  the  course  of  the 
last  eighty  years.  In  the  United  States  the  pro- 
gress is  still  more  striking.  In  spite  of  immigration, 
or  rather  precisely  because  of  the  influx  of  surplus 
European  labour,  the  United  States  have  multiplied 
their  wealth  tenfold. 

However,  these  figures  give  yet  a  very  faint  idea 
of  what  our  wealth  might  become  under  better  con- 
ditions. For  alongside  of  the  rapid  development 
of  our  wealth-producing  powers  we  have  an  over- 
whelming increase  in  the  ranks  of  the  idlers  and 
middlemen.  Instead  of  capital  gradually  concen- 
trating itself  in  a  few  hands,  so  that  it  would  only 
be  necessary  for  the  community  to  dispossess  a  few 
millionaires  and  enter  upon  its  lawful  heritage  — 
instead  of  this  Socialist  forecast  proving  true,  the 
exact  reverse  is  coming  to  pass :  the  swarm  of  para- 
sites is  ever  increasing. 

In  France  there  are  not  ten  actual  producers  to 
every  thirty  inhabitants.  The  whole  agricultural 
wealth  of  the  country  is  the  work  of  less  than  seven 
millions  of  men,  and  in  the  two  great  industries, 
mining  and  the  textile  trade,  you  will  find  that  the 
workers  number  less  than  two  and  one-half  millions. 
But  the  exploiters  of  labour,  how  many  are  they  ?  — 
In  England  (exclusive  of  Scotland  and  Ireland),  only 


Well-Being  For  All  17 

one  million  workers  —  men,  women,  and  children  — 
are  employed  in  all  the  textile  trades,  rather  more 
than  half  a  million  work  the  mines,  rather  less  than 
half  a  million  till  the  ground,  and  the  statisticians 
have  to  exaggerate  all  the  figures  in  order  to  estab- 
lish a  maximum  of  eight  million  producers  to  twenty- 
six  million  inhabitants.  Strictly  speaking  the  crea- 
tors of  the  goods  exported  from  Britain  to  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth  comprise  only  from  six  to  seven 
million  workers.  And  what  is  the  sum  of  the  share- 
holders and  middlemen  who  le\^  the  first  fruits  of 
labour  from  far  and  near,  and  heap  up  unearned 
gains  by  thrusting  themselves  between  the  producer 
and  the  consumer,  paying  the  former  not  a  fifth, 
nay,  not  a  twentieth,  of  the  price  they  exact  from 
the  latter? 

Nor  is  this  all.  Those  who  withhold  capital  con- 
stantly reduce  the  output  by  restraining  production. 
We  need  not  speak  of  the  cartloads  of  oysters  thrown 
into  the  sea  to  prevent  a  dainty,  hitherto  reserved 
for  the  rich,  from  becoming  a  food  for  the  people. 
We  need  not  speak  of  the  thousand  and  one  luxuries 
—  stuffs,  foods,  etc.  etc.  —  treated  after  the  same 
fashion  as  the  6ysters.  It  is  enough  to  remember 
the  way  in  which  the  production  of  the  most  neces- 
sary things  is  limited.  Legions  of  miners  are  ready 
and  willing  to  dig  out  coal  every  day,  and  send  it  to 
those  who  are  shivering  with  cold;  but  too  often  a 
third,  or  even  two-thirds,  of  their  nimiber  are  for- 
bidden to  work  more  than  three  days  a  week,  because, 
forsooth,  the  price  of  coal  must  be  kept  up?  Thou- 
sands of  weavers  are  forbidden  to  work  the  looms, 


1 8  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

though  their  wives  and  children  go  in  rags,  and 
though  three-quarters  of  the  population  of  Europe 
have  no  clothing  worthy  the  name. 

Hundreds  of  blast-furnaces,  thousands  of  factories 
periodically  stand  idle,  others  only  work  half-time 
—  and  in  every  civilized  nation  there  is  a  perma- 
nent population  of  about  two  million  individuals 
who  ask  only  for  work,  but  to  whom  work  is  denied. 

How  gladly  would  these  millions  of  men  set  to 
work  to  reclaim  waste  lands,  or  to  transform  ill- 
cultivated  land  into  fertile  fields,  rich  in  harvests! 
A  year  of  well-directed  toil  would  suffice  to  ihul- 
tiply  fivefold  the  produce  of  dry  lands  in  the  south 
of  France  which  now  yield  only  about  eight  bushels 
of  wheat  per  acre.  But  these  men,  who  would  be 
happy  to  become  hardy  pioneers  in  so  many 
branches  of  wealth-producing  activity,  must  stay 
their  hands  because  the  owners  of  the  soil,  the  mines, 
and  the  factories  prefer  to  invest  their  capital  — 
stolen  in  the  first  place  from  the  community  —  in 
Turkish  or  Egyptian  bonds,  or  in  Patagonian  gold 
mines,  and  so  make  Egyptian  fellahs,  Italian  exiles, 
and  Chinese  coolies  their  wage-slaves. 

So  much  for  the  direct  and  deliberate  limitation 
of  production ;  but  there  is  also  a  limitation  indirect 
and  not  of  set  purpose,  which  consists  in  spending 
human  toil  on  objects  absolutely  useless,  or  destined 
only  to  satisfy  the  dull  vanity  of  the  rich. 

It  is  impossible  to  reckon  in  figures  the  extent 
to  which  wealth  is  restricted  indirectly,  the  extent 
to  which  energy  is  squandered,  that  might  have 
served  to  produce,  and  above  all  to  prepare  the 


Well-Being  For  All  19 

machinery  necessary  to  production.  It  is  enough 
to  cite  the  immense  sums  spent  by  Europe  in  arma- 
ments for  the  sole  purpose  of  acquiring  control  of 
the  markets,  and  so  forcing  her  own  commercial 
standards  on  neighbouring  territories  and  making 
exploitation  easier  at  home ;  the  millions  paid  every 
year  to  officials  of  all  sorts,  whose  function  it  is  to 
maintain  the  "rights"  of  minorities  —  the  right, 
that  is,  of  a  few  rich  men  —  to  manipulate  the 
economic  activities  of  the  nation ;  the  millions  spent 
on  judges,  prisons,  policemen,  and  all  the  parapher- 
nalia of  so-called  justice  —  spent  to  no  purpose, 
because  we  know  that  every  alleviation,  however 
slight,  of  the  wretchedness  of  our  great  cities  is 
followed  by  a  very  considerable  diminution  of  crime ; 
lastly,  the  millions  spent  on  propagating  pernicious 
doctrines  by  means  of  the  press,  and  news  '  'cooked' ' 
in  the  interest  of  this  or  that  party,  of  this  politician 
or  of  that  company  of  exploiters. 

But  over  and  above  this  we  must  take  into  account 
all  the  labour  that  goes  to  sheer  waste,  in  keeping 
up  the  stables,  the  kennels,  and  the  retinue  of  the 
rich,  for  instance;  in  pandering  to  the  caprices  of 
society  and  to  the  depraved  tastes  of  the  fashionable 
mob;  in  forcing  the  consumer  on  the  one  hand  to 
buy  what  he  does  not  need,  or  foisting  an  inferior 
article  upon  him  by  means  of  puffery,  and  in  pro- 
ducing on  the  other  hand  wares  which  are  abso- 
lutely injurious,  but  profitable  to  the  manufacturer. 
What  is  squandered  in  this  manner  would  be  enough 
to  double  our  real  wealth,  or  so  to  plenish  our  mills 
and  factories  with  machinery  that  they  would  soon 


20  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

flood  the  shops  with  all  that  is  now  lacking  to  two- 
thirds  of  the  nation.  Under  our  present  system  a 
full  quarter  of  the  producers  in  every  nation  are 
forced  to  be  idle  for  three  or  four  months  in  the 
year,  and  the  labour  of  another  quarter,  if  not  of 
the  half,  has  no  better  results  than  the  amusement 
of  the  rich  or  the  exploitation  of  the  public. 

Thus,  if  we  consider  on  the  one  hand  the  rapidity 
with  which  civilized  nations  augment  their  powers 
of  production,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  limits  set 
to  that  production,  be  it  directly  or  indirectly,  by 
existing  conditions,  one  cannot  but  conclude  that 
an  economic  system  a  trifle  more  enlightened  would 
permit  them  to  heap  up  in  a  few  years  so  many 
useful  products  that  they  would  be  constrained 
to  cry  —  "Enough!  We  have  enough  coal  and 
bread  and  raiment !  Let  us  rest  and  consider  how 
best  to  use  our  powers,  how  best  to  employ  our 
leisure." 

No,  plenty  for  all  is  not  a  dream  —  though  it  was 
a  dream  indeed  in  those  old  days  when  man,  for  all 
his  pains,  could  hardly  win  a  bushel  of  wheat  from 
an  acre  of  land,  and  had  to  fashion  by  hand  all  the 
implements  he  used  in  agriculture  and  industr>\ 
Now  it  is  no  longer  a  dream,  because  man  has  in- 
vented a  motor  which,  with  a  little  iron  and  a  few 
pounds  of  coal,  gives  him  the  mastery  of  a  creature 
strong  and  docile  as  a  horse,  and  capable  of  setting 
the  most  complicated  machinery  in  motion. 

But,  if  plenty  for  all  is  to  become  a  reality,  this 
immense  capital  —  cities,  houses,  pastures,  arable 
lands,  factories,  highways,  education  —  must  cease 


Weil-Being  For  All  21 

to  be  regarded  as  private  property,  for  the  monop- 
olist to  dispose  of  at  his  pleasure. 

This  rich  endowment,  painfully  won,  builded, 
fashioned,  or  invented  by  our  ancestors,  must  become 
common  property,  so  that  the  collective  interests 
of  men  may  gain  from  it  the  greatest  good  for  all. 

There  must  be  Expropriation.  The  well-being 
of  all  —  the  end ;  expropriation  —  the  means. 


II 

Expropriation,  such  then  is  the  problem  which 
History  has  put  before  the  men  of  the  twentieth 
century :  the  return  to  Communism  in  all  that  minis- 
ters to  the  well-being  of  man. 

But  this  problem  cannot  be  solved  by  means  of 
legislation.  No  one  imagines  that.  The  poor,  no 
less  than  the  rich,  understand  that  neither  the 
existing  Governments,  nor  any  which  might  arise 
out  of  possible  political  changes,  would  be  capable 
of  finding  a  solution.  We  feel  the  necessity  of  a 
social  revolution ;  rich  and  poor  alike  recognize  that 
this  revolution  is  imminent,  that  it  may  break  out 
in  a  very  few  years. 

A  great  change  in  thought  has  been  accomplished 
during  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century;  but 
suppressed,  as  it  was,  by  the  propertied  classes, 
and  denied  its  natural  development,  this  new  spirit 
must  break  now  its  bonds  by  violence  and  realize 
itself  in  a  revolution. 

Whence  comes  the  revolution,  and  how  will  it 
announce    its    coming?     None    can    answer    these 


aa  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

questions.  The  future  is  hidden.  But  those  who 
watch  and  think  do  not  misinterpret  the  signs: 
workers  and  exploiters,  Revolutionists  and  Con- 
servatives, thinkers  and  men  of  action,  all  feel  that 
the  revolution  is  at  our  doors. 

Well!  What  are  we  to  do  when  the  thunder- 
bolt has  fallen? 

We  have  all  been  studying  the  dramatic  side  of 
revolution  so  much,  and  the  practical  work  of  revo- 
lution so  little,  that  we  are  apt  to  see  only  the 
stage  effects,  so  to  speak,  of  these  great  movements ; 
the  fight  of  the  first  days ;  the  barricades.  But  this 
fight,  this  first  skirmish,  is  soon  ended,  and  it  is  only 
after  the  overthrow  of  the  old  constitution  that  the 
real  work  of  revolution  can  be  said  to  begin. 

Effete  and  powerless,  attacked  on  all  sides,  the 
old  rulers  are  soon  swept  away  by  the  breath  of 
insurrection.  In  a  few  days  the  middle-class  mon- 
archy of  1848  was  no  more,  and  while  Louis  Philippe 
was  making  good  his  escape  in  a  cab,  Paris  had 
already  forgotten  her  "citizen  king."  The  govern- 
ment of  Thiers  disappeared,  on  the  i8th  of  March, 
1 87 1,  in  a  few  hours,  leaving  Paris  mistress  of  her 
destinies.  Yet  1848  and  1871  were  only  insur- 
rections. Before  a  popular  revolution  the  masters 
of  "the  old  order"  disappear  with  a  surprising 
rapidity.  Its  upholders  fly  the  country,  to  plot  in 
safety  elsewhere  and  to  devise  measures  for  their 
return. 

The  former  Grovemment  having  disappeared,  the 
army,  hesitating  before  the  tide  of  popular  opinion, 
no   longer  obeys  its  commanders,   who  have  also 


Weil-Being  For  All  23 

prudently  decamped.  The  troops  stand  by  without 
interfering,  or  join  the  rebels.  The  police,  standing 
at  ease,  are  uncertain  whether  to  belabour  the  crowd 
or  to  cry:  "Long  live  the  Commune!"  while  some 
retire  to  their  quarters  "to  await  the  pleasure  of  the 
new  Government."  Wealthy  citizens  pack  their 
trunks  and  betake  themselves  to  places  of  safety. 
The  people  remain.  This  is  how  a  revolution  is 
iishered  in.  In  several  large  towns  the  Commune 
is  proclaimed.  In  the  streets  wander  thousands 
of  men,  who  in  the  evening  crowd  into  improvised 
clubs  asking:  "What  shall  we  do?"  and  ardently 
discuss  public  affairs,  in  which  all  take  an  interest; 
those  who  yesterday  were  most  indifferent  are  per- 
haps the  most  zealous.  Everywhere  there  is  plenty 
of  goodwill  and  a  keen  desire  to  make  victory  certain. 
It  is  a  time  of  supreme  devotion.  The  people  are 
ready  to  go  forward. 

All  this  is  splendid,  sublime;  but  still,  it  is  not  a 
revolution.  Nay,  it  is  only  now  that  the  work  of 
the  revolutionist  begins. 

Doubtless  the  thirst  for  vengeance  will  be  satisfied. 
The  Watrins  and  the  Thomases  will  pay  the  penalty 
of  their  impopularity,  but  that  is  only  an  incident  of 
the  struggle  and  not  a  revolution. 

Socialist  politicians,  radicals,  neglected  geniuses 
of  journalism,  stump  orators,  middle-class  citizens, 
and  workmen  hurry  to  the  Town  Hall,  to  the  Gov- 
ernment offices,  and  take  possession  of  the  vacant 
seats.  Some  rejoice  their  hearts  with  galloon, 
admire  themselves  in  ministerial  mirrors,  and  study 
to  give  orders  with  an  air  of  importance  appropriate 


H  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

to  their  new  position.  They  must  have  a  red  sash, 
an  embroidered  cap,  and  magisterial  gestures  to 
impress  their  comrades  of  the  office  or  the  workshop ! 
Others  bury  themselves  in  official  papers,  trying, 
with  the  best  of  wills,  to  make  head  or  tail  of  them. 
They  indite  laws  and  issue  high-flown  worded  decrees 
that  nobody  takes  the  trouble  to  carry  out  — 
because  the  revolution  has  come.  To  give  them- 
selves an  authority  which  is  lacking  they  seek  the 
sanction  of  old  forms  of  Government.  They  take 
the  names  of  "Provisional  Government,"  "Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety,"  "Mayor,"  "Governor  of 
the  Town  Hall,"  "Commissioner  of  Public  Weal," 
and  what  not.  Elected  or  acclaimed,  they  assemble 
in  Boards  or  in  Communal  Councils.  These  bodies 
include  men  of  ten  or  twenty  different  schools, 
which,  if  not  exactly  "  private  chapels,"  are  at  least 
so  many  sects  which  represent  as  many  ways  of 
regarding  the  scope,  the  bearing,  and  the  goal  of 
the  revolution.  Possibilists,  CoUectivists,  Radicals, 
Jacobins,  Blanquists,  are  thrust  together,  and  waste 
time  in  wordy  warfare.  Honest  men  come  into  con- 
tact with  ambitious  ones,  whose  only  dream  is  power 
and  who  spurn  the  crowd  whence  they  spnmg. 
Coming  together  with  diametrically  opposed  views, 
they  are  forced  to  form  arbitrary  alliances  in  order 
to  create  majorities  that  can  but  last  a  day. 
Wrangling,  calling  each  other  reactionaries,  authori- 
tarians, and  rascals,  incapable  of  coming  to  an 
imderstanding  on  any  serious  measure,  dragged 
into  discussions  about  trifles,  producing  nothing 
better  than   bombastic   proclamations,   yet  taking 


Well-Being  For  All  25 

themselves  seriously,  unwitting  that  the  real  strength 
of  the  movement  is  in  the  streets. 

All  this  may  please  those  who  like  the  theatre, 
but  it  is  not  revolution.  Nothing  yet  has  been 
accomplished.  Meanwhile  the  people  suffer.  The 
factories  are  idle,  the  workshops  closed;  industry 
is  at  a  standstill.  The  worker  does  not  even  earn 
the  meagre  wage  which  was  his  before.  Food  goes 
up  in  price.  With  that  heroic  devotion  which  has 
always  characterized  them,  and  which  in  great 
crises  reaches  the  sublime,  the  people  wait  patiently. 
"  We  place  these  three  months  of  want  at  the  service 
of  the  Republic,"  they  said  in  1848,  while  "their 
representatives' '  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  new 
Government,  down  to  the  meanest  Jack-in-office, 
received  their  salary  regularly. 

The  people  suffer.  With  the  childlike  faith,  with 
the  good  humour  of  the  masses  who  believe  in  their 
leaders,  they  think  that  "yonder,"  in  the  House, 
in  the  Town  Hall,  in  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 
their  welfare  is  being  considered.  But  "yonder" 
they  are  discussing  everything  under  the  sun  except 
the  welfare  of  the  people.  In  1793,  while  famine 
ravaged  France  and  crippled  the  Revolution ;  whilst 
the  people  were  reduced  to  the  depths  of  misery, 
whilst  the  Champs  Elysee  were  lined  with  luxurious 
carriages  where  women  displayed  their  jewels  and 
splendour,  Robespierre  was  urging  the  Jacobins  to 
discuss  his  treatise  on  the  English  Constitution. 
While  the  worker  was  suffering  in  1848  from  the 
general  stoppage  of  trade  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment and  the  House  were  wrangling  over  military 


«6  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

pensions  and  prison  labour,  without  troubling  how 
the  people  were  to  live  during  this  crisis.  And  could 
one  cast  a  reproach  at  the  Paris  Commune,  which 
was  bom  beneath  the  Prussian  cannon,  and  lasted 
only  seventy  days,  it  would  be  for  this  same  error  — 
this  failure  to  understand  that  the  Revolution  could 
not  triumph  imless  those  who  fought  on  its  side  were 
fed,  that  on  fifteen  pence  a  day  a  man  cannot  fight 
on  the  ramparts  and  at  the  same  time  support  a 
family. 

The  people  suffer  and  say :  "  How  to  find  the  way 
out  of  these  difficulties  ? ' ' 


III 

It  seems  to  us  that  there  is  only  one  answer  to 
this  question:  We  must  recognize,  and  loudly 
proclaim,  that  every  one,  whatever  his  grade  in  the 
old  society,  whether  strong  or  weak,  capable  or 
incapable,  has,  before  everything,  the  right  to 
LIVE,  and  that  society  is  bound  to  share  amongst 
all,  without  exception,  the  means  of  existence  at  its 
disposal.  We  must  acknowledge  this,  and  proclaim 
it  aloud,  and  act  up  to  it. 

It  must  be  so  contrived  that  from  the  first  day  of 
the  revolution  the  worker  shall  know  that  a  new 
era  is  opening  before  him;  that  henceforward  none 
need  crouch  under  the  bridges,  with  palaces  hard 
by,  none  need  fast  in  the  midst  of  food,  none  need 
perish  with  cold  near  shops  full  of  furs;  that  all  is 
for  all,  in  practice  as  well  as  in  theory,  and  that  at 
last,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  a  revolution  has 


Weil-Being  For  All  a? 

been  accomplished  which  considers  the   needs  of, 
the  people  before  schooling  them  in  their  duties. 

This  cannot  be  brought  about  by  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, but  only  by  taking  immediate  and  effective 
possession  of  all  that  is  necessary  to  ensure  the 
well-being  of  all;  this  is  the  only  really  scientific 
way  of  going  to  work,  the  only  way  to  be  under- 
stood and  desired  by  the  mass  of  the  people.  We 
must  take  possession,  in  the  name  of  the  people, 
of  the  granaries,  the  shops  full  of  clothing,  and  the 
dwelling  hoiises.  Nothing  must  be  wasted.  We 
must  organize  without  delay  to  feed  the  himgry, 
to  satisfy  all  wants,  to  meet  all  needs,  to  produce, 
not  for  the  special  benefit  of  this  one  or  that  one, 
but  to  ensure  that  society  as  a  whole  will  live  and 
grow. 

Enough  of  ambiguous  words  like  "the  right  to 
work,"  with  which  the  people  were  misled  in  1848, 
and  which  are  still  used  to  mislead  them.  Let  us 
have  the  courage  to  recognize  that  Well-being  for 
all,  henceforward  possible,  must  be  realized. 

When  the  workers  claimed  the  right  to  work  in 
1848,  national  and  municipal  workshops  were  or- 
ganized, and  workmen  were  sent  to  drudge  there 
at  the  rate  of  is.  8d.  a  day!  When  they  asked  that 
labour  should  be  organized,  the  reply  was : '  'Patience, 
friends,  the  Government  will  see  to  it;  meantime 
here  is  your  is.  8d.  Rest  now,  brave  toiler,  after 
your  lifelong  struggle  for  food!"  Meantime  the 
cannons  were  trained,  the  reserves  called  out,  and 
the  workers  themselves  disorganized  by  the  many 
methods  well  known  to  the  middle  classes,  tiU  one 


28  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

fine  day  they  were  told  to  go  and  colonize  Africa  or 
be  shot  down. 

Very  different  will  be  the  result  if  the  workers 
claim  the  right  to  well-being!  In  claiming  that 
right  they  claim  the  right  to  possess  the  wealth  of 
the  community  —  to  take  the  houses  to  dwell  in, 
according  to  the  needs  of  each  family;  to  seize  the 
stores  of  food  and  learn  the  meaning  of  plenty, 
after  having  known  famine  too  well.  They  pro- 
claim their  right  to  all  wealth  —  fruit  of  the  labour 
of  past  and  present  generations  —  and  learn  by  its 
means  to  enjoy  those  higher  pleasures  of  art  and 
science  too  long  monopolized  by  the  middle  classes. 

And  while  asserting  their  right  to  live  in  comfort, 
they  assert,  what  is  still  more  important,  their  right 
to  decide  for  themselves  what  this  comfort  shall  be, 
what  must  be  produced  to  ensure  it,  and  what  dis- 
carded as  no  longer  of  value. 

The  "right  to  well-being"  means  the  possibility 
of  living  like  human  beings,  and  of  bringing  up 
children  to  be  members  of  a  society  better- than  ours, 
whilst  the  '  'right  to  work' '  only  means  the  right  to 
be  always  a  wage-slave,  a  drudge,  ruled  over  and 
exploited  by  the  middle  class  of  the  future.  The 
right  to  well-being  is  the  Social  Revolution,  the 
right  to  work  means  nothing  but  the  Treadmill  of 
Commercialism.  It  is  high  time  for  the  worker  to 
assert  his  right  to  the  common  inheritance  and 
to  enter  into  possession. 


CHAPTER  III 
Anarchist  Communism 

I 

Every  society  which  has  abolished  private  prop- 
erty will  be  forced,  we  maintain,  to  organize  itself 
on  the  lines  of  Communistic  Anarchy.  Anarchy 
leads  to  Commimism,  and  Commimism  to  Anarchy, 
both  alike  being  expressions  of  the  predominant 
tendency  in  modem  societies,  the  pursuit  of  equality. 

Time  was  when  a  peasant  family  could  consider 
the  com  which  it  grew,  or  the  woollen  garments 
woven  in  the  cottage,  as  the  products  of  its  own  toil. 
But  even  then  this  way  of  looking  at  things  was  not 
quite  correct.  There  were  the  roads  and  the  bridges 
made  in  common,  the  swamps  drained  by  common 
toil,  and  the  communal  pastures  enclosed  by  hedges 
which  were  kept  in  repair  by  each  and  all.  If  the 
looms  for  weaving  or  the  dyes  for  colouring  fabrics 
were  improved,  all  profited;  so  even  in  those  days 
a  peasant  family  could  not  Hve  alone,  but  was 
dependent  in  a  thousand  ways  on  the  village  or  the 
commune. 

But  nowadays,  in  the  present  state  of  industry, 
when  everything  is  interdependent,  when  each 
branch  of  production  is  knit  up  with  all  the  rest, 
the  attempt  to  claim  an  Individualist  origin  for  the 
products  of  industry  is  absolutely  untenable.     The 

39 


30  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

astonishing  perfection  attained  by  the  textile  oi 
mining  industries  in  civiHzed  countries  is  due  to  the 
simultaneous  development  of  a  thousand  other 
industries,  great  and  small,  to  the  extension  of  the 
railroad  system,  to  inter-oceanic  navigation,  to  the 
manual  skill  of  thousands  of  workers,  to  a  certain 
standard  of  culture  reached  by  the  working  classes 
as  a  whole,  to  the  labours,  in  short,  of  men  in  every 
comer  of  the  globe. 

The  Italians  who  died  of  cholera  while  making 
the  Suez  Canal,  or  of  anchylosis  in  the  St.  Gothard 
Tunnel,  and  the  Americans  mowed  down  by  shot 
and  shell  while  fighting  for  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
have  helped  to  develop  the  cotton  industry  in  France 
and  England,  as  well  as  the  work-girls  who  languish 
in  the  factories  of  Manchester  and  Rouen,  and  the 
inventor  who  (following  the  suggestion  of  some 
worker)  succeeds  in  improving  the  looms. 

How,  then,  shall  we  estimate  the  share  of  each  in 
the  riches  which  all  contribute  to  amass? 

Looking  at  production  from  this  general,  syn- 
thetic point  of  view,  we  cannot  hold  with  the 
CoUectivists  that  payment  proportionate  to  the 
hours  of  labour  rendered  by  each  would  be  an  ideal 
arrangement,  or  even  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 

Without  discussing  whether  exchange  value  of 
goods  is  really  measured  in  existing  societies  by  the 
amount  of  work  necessary  to  produce  it  —  according 
to  the  doctrine  of  Smith  and  Ricardo,  in  whose  foot- 
steps Marx  has  followed  —  suffice  it  to  say  here, 
leaving  ourselves  free  to  return  to  the  subject  later, 
that  the  CoUectivist  ideal  appears  to  us  untenable 


Anarchist  Communism  31 

in  a  society  which  considers  the  instruments  of 
labour  as  a  common  inheritance.  Starting  from 
this  principle,  such  a  society  would  find  itself  forced 
from  the  very  outset  to  abandon  all  forms  of  wages. 

The  mitigated  individualism  of  the  coUectivist 
system  certainly  could  not  maintain  itself  along- 
side a  partial  communism  —  the  socialization  of  land 
and  the  instruments  of  production.  A  new  form  of 
property  requires  a  new  form  of  remuneration.  A 
new  method  of  production  cannot  exist  side  by  side 
with  the  old  forms  of  consumption,  any  more  than 
it  can  adapt  itself  to  the  old  forms  of  political 
organization. 

The  wage  system  arises  out  of  the  individual 
ownership  of  the  land  and  the  instruments  of  labour. 
It  was  the  necessary  condition  for  the  development 
of  capitalist  production,  and  will  perish  with  it,  in 
spite  of  the  attempt  to  disguise  it  as  "profit-sharing." 
The  common  possession  of  the  instruments  of  labour 
must  necessarily  bring  with  it  the  enjoyment  in 
comnion  of  the  fruits  of  common  labour. 

We  hold  further  that  Commimism  is  not  only 
desirable,  but  that  existing  societies,  foimded  on 
Individualism,  are  inevitably  impelled  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Communism.  The  development  of  Indi- 
vidualism during  the  last  three  centuries  is  explained 
by  the  efforts  of  the  individual  to  protect  himself 
from  the  tyranny  of  Capital  and  of  the  State.  For 
a  time  he  imagined,  and  those  who  expressed  his 
thought  for  him  declared,  that  he  could  free  himself 
entirely  from  the  State  and  from  society.  "  By 
means  of  money,"  he  said,   "  I  can  buy  all  that  I 


32  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

need."  But  the  individual  was  on  a  wrong  tack,  and 
modem  history  has  taught  him  to  recognize  that, 
without  the  help  of  all,  he  can  do  nothing,  although 
his  strong-boxes  are  full  of  gold. 

In  fact,  alongside  this  current  of  Individualism, 
we  find  in  all  modem  history  a  tendency,  on  the 
one  hand,  to  retain  all  that  remains  of  the  partial 
Communism  of  antiquity,  and,  on  the  other,  to 
establish  the  Communist  principle  in  the  thousand 
developments  of  modem  life. 

As  soon  as  the  communes  of  the  tenth,  eleventh, 
and  twelfth  centuries  had  succeeded  in  emanci- 
pating themselves  from  their  lords,  ecclesiastical 
or  lay,  their  commtmal  labour  and  communal 
consumption  began  to  extend  and  develop  rapidly. 
The  township  —  and  not  private  persons  —  freighted 
ships  and  equipped  expeditions,  and  the  benefit 
arising  from  the  foreign  trade  did  not  accrue  to 
individuals,  but  was  shared  by  all.  The  townships 
also  bought  provisions  for  their  citizens.  Traces 
of  these  institutions  have  lingered  on  into  the  nine- 
teenth century,  and  the  folk  piously  cherish  the 
memory  of  them  in  their  legends. 

All  that  has  disappeared.  But  the  rural  township 
still  struggles  to  preserve  the  last  traces  of  this 
Communism,  and  it  succeeds  —  except  when  the 
State  throws  its  heavy  sword  into  the  balance. 

Meanwhile  new  organizations,  based  on  the  same 
principle  —  to  every  man  according  to  his  needs  — 
spring  up  under  a  thousand  different  forms;  for 
without  a  certain  leaven  of  Commtinism  the  present 
societies  could  not  exist.     In  spite  of  the  narrowly 


Anarchist  Communism  33 

egoistic  turn  given  to  men's  minds  by  the  commercial 
system,  the  tendency  towards  Communism  is  con- 
stantly appearing,  and  influences  our  activities  in 
a  variety  of  ways. 

The  bridges,  for  the  use  of  which  a  toll  was  levied 
in  the  old  days,  are  now  become  public  property 
and  free  to  all;  so  are  the  high  roads,  except  in  the 
East,  where  a  toll  is  still  exacted  from  the  traveller 
for  every  mile  of  his  journey.  Museums,  free 
libraries,  free  schools,  free  meals  for  children ;  parks 
and  gardens  open  to  all;  streets  paved  and  lighted, 
free  to  all;  water  supplied  to  every  house  without 
measure  or  stint  —  all  such  arrangements  are 
founded  on  the  principle:  "Take  what  you  need." 

The  tramways  and  railways  have  already  intro- 
duced monthly  and  annual  season  tickets,  without 
limiting  the  number  of  journeys  taken;  and  two 
nations,  Hungary  and  Russia,  have  introduced  on 
their  railways  the  zone  system,  which  permits  the 
holder  to  travel  five  htindred  or  a  thousand  miles 
for  the  same  price.  It  is  but  a  short  step  from  that 
to  a  uniform  charge,  such  as  already  prevails  in  the 
postal  service.  In  all  these  innovations,  and  a 
thousand  others,  the  tendency  is  not  to  measure 
the  individual  consumption.  One  man  wants  to 
travel  a  thousand  miles,  another  five  hxmdred. 
These  are  personal  requirements.  There  is  no 
sufficient  reason  why  one  should  pay  twice  as  much 
as  the  other  because  his  need  is  twice  as  great.  Such 
are  the  signs  which  appear  even  now  in  our  indi- 
vidualist societies. 

Moreover,  there  is  a  tendency,  though  still  a  feeble 


34  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

one,  to  consider  the  needs  of  the  individual,  irre- 
spective of  his  past  or  possible  services  to  the  com- 
miinity.  We  are  beginning  to  think  of  society  as 
a  whole,  each  part  of  which  is  so  intimately  bound 
up  with  the  others  that  a  service  rendered  to  one 
is  a  service  rendered  to  all. 

When  you  go  into  a  public  library  —  not  indeed 
the  National  Library  of  Paris,  but,  say,  into  the 
British  Museum  or  the  Berlin  Library  —  the  librarian 
does  not  ask  what  services  you  have  rendered  to 
society  before  giving  you  the  book,  or  the  fifty  books 
which  you  require,  and  he  comes  to  your  assistance 
if  you  do  not  know  how  to  manage  the  catalogue. 
By  means  of  imiform  credentials  —  and  very  often 
a  contribution  of  work  is  preferred  —  the  scientific 
society  opens  its  museums,  its  gardens,  its  Hbrary, 
its  laboratories,  and  its  annual  conversaziones  to 
each  of  its  members,  whether  he  be  a  Darwin,  or 
a  simple  amateur. 

At  St.  Petersburg,  if  you  are  pursuing  an  inven- 
tion, you  go  into  a  special  laboratory  or  a  workshop, 
where  you  are  given  a  place,  a  carpenter's  bench, 
a  turning  lathe,  all  the  necessary  tools  and  scientific 
instruments,  provided  only  you  know  how  to  use 
them;  and  you  are  allowed  to  work  there  as  long  as 
you  please.  There  are  the  tools;  interest  others  in 
your  idea,  join  with  fellow  workers  skilled  in  various 
crafts,  or  work  alone  if  you  prefer  it.  Invent  a 
flying  machine,  or  invent  nothing  —  that  is  your  own 
affair.     You  are  pursuing  an  idea  —  that  is  enough. 

In  the  same  way,  those  who  man  the  lifeboat  do 
not  ask  credentials  from  the  crew  of  a  sinking  ship ; 


Anarchist  Communism  3S 

they  latinch  their  boat,  risk  their  hves  in  the  raging 
waves,  and  sometimes  perish,  all  to  save  men  whom 
they  do  not  even  know.  And  what  need  to  know 
them?  "They  are  human  beings,  and  they  need 
our  aid  —  that  is  enough,  that  establishes  their 
right To  the  rescue !  " 

Thus  we  find  a  tendency,  eminently  commun- 
istic, springing  up  on  all  sides,  and  in  various  guises, 
in  the  very  heart  of  theoretically  individualist 
societies. 

Suppose  that  one  of  our  great  cities,  so  egotistic 
in  ordinary  times,  were  visited  to-morrow  by  some 
calamity  —  a  siege,  for  instance  —  that  same  selfish 
city  would  decide  that  the  first  needs  to  satisfy  were 
those  of  the  children  and  the  aged.  Without  asking 
what  services  they  had  rendered,  or  were  likely  to 
fender  to  society,  it  would  first  of  all  feed  them. 
Then  the  combatants  would  be  cared  for,  irrespec- 
tive of  the  courage  or  the  intelligence  which  each 
has  displayed,  and  thousands  of  men  and  women 
would  outvie  each  other  in  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
woimded. 

This  tendency  exists  and  is  felt  as  soon  as  the 
most  pressing  needs  of  each  are  satisfied,  and  in 
proportion  as  the  productive  power  of  the  race 
increases.  It  becomes  an  active  force  every  time 
a  great  idea  comes  to  oust  the  mean  preoccupations 
of  everyday  life. 

How  can  we  doubt,  then,  that  when  the  instru- 
ments of  production  are  placed  at  the  service  of 
all,  when  business  is  conducted  on  Communist 
principles,  when  labour,  having  recovered  its  place 


3^  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  honour  in  society,  produces  much  more  than  is 
necessary  to  all  —  how  can  we  doubt  but  that  this 
force  (already  so  powerful)  will  enlarge  its  sphere 
of  action  till  it  becomes  the  ruHng  principle  of  social 
Hfc? 

Following  these  indications,  and  considering 
further  the  practical  side  of  expropriation,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  in  the  following  chapters,  we  are 
convinced  that  our  first  obligation,  when  the  revo- 
lution shall  have  broken  the  power  upholding  the 
present  system,  will  be  to  realize  Communism 
without  delay. 

But  ours  is  neither  the  Communism  of  Fourier 
and  the  Phalansteriens,  nor  of  the  German  State- 
Socialists.  It  is  Anarchist  Communism,  — Com- 
munism without  government  —  the  Communism 
of  the  Free.  It  is  the  synthesis  of  the  two  ideals 
pursued  by  humanity  throughout  the  ages  — 
Economic  and  Political  Liberty. 

II 

In  taking  "Anarchy  "  for  our  ideal  of  political 
organization  we  are  only  giving  expression  to  another 
marked  tendency  of  human  progress.  Whenever 
European  societies  have  developed  up  to  a  certain 
point  they  have  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  authority 
and  substituted  a  system  foimded  roughly  more  or 
less  on  the  principles  of  individual  liberty.  And 
history  shows  us  that  these  periods  of  partial  or 
general  revolution,  when  the  governments  were 
overthrown,  were  also  periods  of  suddefi  progress 


Anarchist  Communism  37 

both  in  the  economic  and  the  intellectual  field.  Now 
it  is  the  enfranchisement  of  the  commiines,  whose 
monimients,  produced  by  the  free  labotir  of  the 
guilds,  have  never  been  surpassed;  now  it  is  the 
peasant  rising  which  brought  about  the  Reformation 
and  imperilled  the  papacy ;  and  then  again  it  is  the 
society,  free  for  a  brief  space,  which  was  created 
at  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  by  the  malcontents 
from  the  Old  World. 

Further,  if  we  observe  the  present  development 
of  civilized  peoples  we  see,  most  unmistakably,  a 
movement  ever  more  and  more  marked  to  Hmit  the 
sphere  of  action  of  the  Government,  and  to  allow 
more  and  more  Hberty  to  the  individual.  This 
evolution  is  going  on  before  our  eyes,  though  cum- 
bered by  the  ruins  and  rubbish  of  old  institutions 
and  old  superstitions.  Like  all  evolutions,  it  only 
waits  a  revolution  to  overthrow  the  old  obstacles 
which  block  the  way,  that  it  may  find  free  scope  in 
a  regenerated  society. 

After  having  striven  long  in  vain  to  solve  the 
insoluble  problem  —  the  problem  of  constructing 
a  government  "which  will  constrain  the  individual 
to  obedience  without  itself  ceasing  to  be  the  servant 
of  society,"  men  at  last  attempt  to  free  themselves 
from  every  form  of  government  and  to  satisfy  their 
need  for  organization  by  a  free  contract  between 
individuals  and  groups  pursuing  the  same  aim. 
The  independence  of  each  small  territorial  unit 
becomes  a  pressing  need ;  mutual  agreement  replaces 
law,  and  everywhere  regulates  individual  interests 
in  view  of  a,  common  object. 


38  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

All  that  was  once  looked  on  as  a  function  of  the 
Government  is  to-day  called  in  question.  Things 
are  arranged  more  easily  and  more  satisfactorily 
without  the  intervention  of  the  State.  And  in 
studying  the  progress  made  in  this  direction,  we  are 
led  to  conclude  that  the  tendency  of  the  human 
race  is  to  reduce  Government  interference  to  zero; 
in  fact,  to  abolish  the  State,  the  personification  of 
injustice,  oppression,  and  monopoly. 

We  can  already  catch  glimpses  of  a  world  in  which 
the  bonds  which  bind  the  individual  are  no  longer 
laws,  but  social  habits  —  the  result  of  the  need 
felt  by  each  one  of  us  to  seek  the  support,  the  co- 
operation, the  sympathy  of  his  neighbours. 

Assuredly  the  idea  of  a  society  without  a  State 
will  give  rise  to  at  least  as  many  objections  as  the 
political  economy  of  a  society  without  private 
capital.  We  have  all  been  brought  up  from  our 
childhood  to  regard  the  State  as  a  sort  of  Provi- 
dence; all  our  education,  the  Roman  history  we 
learned  at  school,  the  Byzantine  code  which  we 
studied  later  imder  the  name  of  Roman  law,  and 
the  various  sciences  taught  at  the  universities, 
accustom  us  to  believe  in  Government  and  in  the 
virtues  of  the  State  providential. 

To  maintain  this  superstition  whole  systems  of 
philosophy  have  been  elaborated  and  taught;  all 
politics  are  based  on  this  principle;  and  each  poli- 
tician, whatever  his  colours,  comes  forward  and  says 
to  the  people,  "Give  me  the  power,  and  I  both  can 
and  will  free  you  from  the  miseries  which  press  so 
heavily  upon  you." 


Anarchist  Communism  39 

From  the  cradle  to  the  grave  all  our  actions  are 
guided  by  this  principle.  Open  any  book  on  soci- 
ology or  jurisprudence,  and  you  will  find  there  the 
Government,  its  organization,  its  acts,  filling  so 
large  a  place  that  we  come  to  beUeve  that  there  is 
nothiag  outside  the  Government  and  the  world  of 
statesmen. 

The  press  teaches  us  the  same  in  every  conceivable 
way.  Whole  columns  are  devoted  to  parliamentary 
debates  and  to  political  intrigues.  The  vast  every- 
day life  of  a  nation  is  barely  mentioned  in  a  few 
lines  when  dealing  with  economic  subjects,  law,  or 
in  "divers  facts"  relating  to  poHce  cases.  And 
when  you  read  these  newspapers,  you  hardly  think 
of  the  incalculable  number  of  beings  —  all  humanity, 
so  to  say  —  who  grow  up  and  die,  who  know  sorrow, 
who  work  and  consume,  think  and  create  outside 
the  few  encumbering  personages  who  have  been  so 
magnified  that  humanity  is  hidden  by  their  shadows 
enlarged  by  our  ignorance. 

And  yet  as  soon  as  we  pass  from  printed  matter 
to  life  itself,  as  soon  as  we  throw  a  glance  at  society, 
we  are  struck  by  the  infinitesimal  part  played  by 
the  Government.  Balzac  already  remarked  how 
millions  of  peasants  spend  the  whole  of  their  lives 
without  knowing  anything  about  the  State,  save 
the  heavy  taxes  they  are  compelled  to  pay.  Every 
day  millions  of  transactions  are  made  without  Gov- 
ernment intervention,  and  the  greatest  of  them  — 
those  of  commerce  and  of  the  Exchange  —  are 
carried  on  in  such  a  way  that  the  Government 
could  not  be  appealed  to  if  one  of  the  contracting 


40  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

parties  had  the  intention  of  not  fulfilling  his  agree- 
ment. Should  you  speak  to  a  man  who  understands 
commerce  he  will  tell  you  that  the  everyday  business 
transacted  by  merchants  would  be  absolutely  im- 
possible were  it  not  based  on  mutual  confidence. 
The  habit  of  keeping  his  word,  the  desire  not  to  lose 
his  credit,  amply  suffice  to  maintain  this  relative 
honesty.  The  man  who  does  not  feel  the  slightest 
remorse  when  poisoning  his  customers  with  noxious 
drugs  covered  with  pompous  labels  thinks  he  is  in 
honour  bound  to  keep  his  engagements.  Now,  if 
this  relative  morality  has  developed  under  present 
conditions,  when  enrichment  is  the  only  incentive 
and  the  only  aim,  can  we  doubt  its  rapid  progress 
when  appropriation  of  the  fruits  of  others'  labour 
will  no  longer  be  the  basis  of  society  ? 

Another  striking  fact,  which  especially  charac- 
terizes our  generation,  speaks  still  more  in  favour 
of  our  ideas.  It  is  the  continual  extension  of  the 
field  of  enterprise  due  to  private  initiative,  and 
the  prodigious  development  of  free  groups  of  all 
kinds.  We  shall  discuss  this  more  at  length  in 
the  chapter  devoted  to  Free  Agreement.  Suffice  it 
to  mention  that  the  facts  are  so  numerous  and  so 
customary  that  they  are  the  essence  of  the 
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  even 
though  political  and  socialist  writers  ignore  them, 
always  preferring  to  talk  to  us  about  the  functions 
of  Government. 

These  organizations,  free  and  infinitely  varied, 
are  so  natural  an  outcome  of  our  civilization ;  they 
expand  so  rapidly  and  group  themselves  with  so 


Anarchist  Communism  41 

much  ease;  they  are  so  necessary  a  result  of  the 
continual  growth  of  the  needs  of  civilized  man; 
and  lastly,  they  so  advantageously  replace  govern- 
mental interference  that  we  must  recognize  in  them 
a  factor  of  growing  importance  in  the  life  of  societies. 
If  they  do  not  yet  spread  over  the  whole  of  the  mani- 
festations of  life,  it  is  that  they  find  an  insurmount- 
able obstacle  in  the  poverty  of  the  worker,  in  the 
casts  of  present  society,  in  the  private  appropriation 
of  capital,  and  in  the  State.  Abolish  these  obstacles 
and  you  will  see  them  covering  the  immense  field  of 
civilized  man's  activity. 

The  history  of  the  last  fifty  years  furnishes  a 
living  proof  that  Representative  Government  is 
impotent  to  discharge  the  functions  we  have  sought 
to  assign  to  it.  In  days  to  come  the  nineteenth 
century  will  be  quoted  as  having  witnessed  the 
failure  of  parliamentarianism. 

But  this  impotence  is  becoming  evident  to  all; 
the  faults  of  parliamentarianism,  and  the  inherent 
vices  of  the  representative  principle,  are  self-evident, 
and  the  few  thinkers  who  have  made  a  critical  study 
of  them  (J.  S.  Mill  and  Leverdays)  did  but  give 
literary  form  to  the  popular  dissatisfaction.  It  is 
not  difficult,  indeed,  to  see  the  absurdity  of  naming 
a  few  men  and  saying  to  them,  "Make  laws  regu- 
lating all  our  spheres  of  activity,  although  not  one 
of  you  knows  anything  about  them ! " 

We  are  beginning  to  see  that  government  by 
majorities  means  abandoning  all  the  affairs  of  the 
country  to  the  tide-waiters  who  make  up  the  ma- 
jorities in  the  House  and  in  election  committees; 


42  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

to  those,  in  a  word,  who  have  no  opinion  of  their 
own.  But  mankind  is  seeking  and  already  finding 
new  issues. 

The  International  Postal  Union,  the  railway 
unions,  and  the  learned  societies  give  us  examples 
of  solutions  based  on  free  agreement  in  place  and 
stead  of  law. 

To-day,  when  groups  scattered  far  and  wide  wish 
to  organize  themselves  for  some  object  or  other, 
they  no  longer  elect  an  international  parliament  of 
Jacks-of -all-trades.  No,  where  it  is  not  possible  to 
meet  directly  or  come  to  an  agreement  by  corre- 
spondence, delegates  versed  in  the  question  at  issue 
are  sent  to  treat,  with  the  instructions:  "Endeavour 
to  come  to  an  agreement  on  such  or  such  a  question, 
and  then  return  not  with  a  law  in  your  pocket,  but 
with  a  proposition  of  agreement  which  we  may  or 
may  not  accept." 

Such  is  the  method  of  the  great  industrial  com- 
panies, the  learned  societies,  and  the  associations 
of  every  description,  which  already  cover  Europe 
and  the  United  States.  And  such  should  be  the 
method  of  an  emancipated  society.  While  bring- 
ing about  expropriation,  society  cannot  continue  to 
organize  itself  on  the  principle  of  parliamentary 
representation.  A  society  founded  on  serfdom  is 
in  keeping  with  absolute  monarchy ;  a  society  based 
on  the  wage  system  and  the  exploitation  of  the 
masses  by  the  capitalists  finds  its  political  expression 
in  parliamentarianism.  But  a  free  society,  regaining 
possession  of  the  common  inheritance,  must  seek, 
in  free  groups  and  free  federations  of  groups,  a  new 


Anarchist  Communism  43 

organization,  in  harmony  with  the  new  economic 
phase  of  history. 

Every  economic  phase  has  a  political  phase  corre- 
sponding to  it,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  touch 
property  without  finding  at  the  same  time  a  new 
mode  of  political  life. 


CHAPTER  IV 
Expropriation 


It  is  told  of  Rothschild  that,  seeing  his  fortune 
threatened  by  the  Revolution  of  1848,  he  hit  upon 
the  following  stratagem :  "I  am  quite  willing  to 
admit,"  said  he,  "  that  my  fortune  has  been  accumu- 
lated at  the  expense  of  others,  but  if  it  were  divided 
to-morrow  among  the  millions  of  Europe,  the  share 
of  each  would  only  amount  to  five  shillings.  Very 
well,  then,  I  imdertake  to  render  to  each  his  five 
shillings  if  he  asks  me  for  it." 

Having  given  due  publicity  to  his  promise,  our 
millionaire  proceeded  as  usual  to  stroll  quietly 
through  the  streets  of  Frankfort.  Three  or  four 
passers-by  asked  for  their  five  shillings,  which  he 
disbursed  with  a  sardonic  smile.  His  stratagem 
succeeded,  and  the  family  of  the  millionaire  is  still 
in  possession  of  its  wealth. 

It  is  in  much  the  same  fashion  that  the  shrewd 
heads  among  the  middle  classes  reason  when  they 
say,  "  Ah,  Expropriation !  I  know  what  that  means. 
You  take  all  the  overcoats  and  lay  them  in  a  heap, 
and  every  one  is  free  to  help  himself  and  fight  for 
the  best." 

But  such  jests  are  irrelevant  as  well  as  flippant. 
What  we  want  is  not  a  redistribution  of  overcoats, 

44 


Expropriation  45 

although  it  must  be  said  that  even  in  such  a 
case,  the  shivering  folk  would  see  advantage  in  it. 
Nor  do  we  want  to  divide  up  the  wealth  of  the 
Rothschilds.  What  we  do  want  is  so  to  arrange 
things  that  every  human  being  bom  into  the  world 
shall  be  ensured  the  opportunity  in  the  first  in- 
stance of  learning  some  useful  occupation,  and  of 
becoming  skilled  in  it;  next,  that  he  shall  be  free 
to  work  at  his  trade  without  asking  leave  of  master 
or  owner,  and  without  handing  over  to  landlord  or 
capitalist  the  hon's  share  .of  what  he  produces.  As 
to  the  wealth  held  by  the  Rothschilds  or  the  Van- 
derbilts,  it  will  serve  us  to  organize  our  system  of 
communal  production. 

The  day  when  the  labourer  may  till  the  ground 
without  paying  away  half  of  what  he  produces,  the 
day  when  the  machines  necessary  to  prepare  the  soil 
for  rich  harvests  are  at  the  free  disposal  of  the  culti- 
vators, the  day  when  the  worker  in  the  factory  pro- 
duces for  the  community  and  not  the  monopolist  — 
that  day  will  see  the  workers  clothed  and  fed,  and 
there  will  be  no  more  Rothschilds  or  other  exploiters. 

No  one  will  then  have  to  sell  his  working  power 
for  a  wage  that  only  represents  a  fraction  of  what 
he  produces. 

"So  far  so  good,"  say  our  critics,  "but  you  will 
have  Rothschilds  coming  in  from  outside.  How 
are  you  to  prevent  a  person  from  amassing  millions 
in  China  and  then  settling  amongst  you  ?  How  are 
you  going  to  prevent  such  a  one  from  surrounding 
himself  with  lackeys  and  wage-slaves  —  from  ex- 
ploiting them  and  enriching  himself  at  their  expense  ? 


46  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

"  You  cannot  bring  about  a  revolution  all  over 
the  world  at  the  same  time.  Well,  then,  are  you 
going  to  establish  custom-houses  on  your  frontiers 
to  search  all  who  enter  your  coimtry  and  confiscate 
the  money  they  bring  with  them  ?  —  Anarchist 
policemen  firing  on  travellers  would  be  a  fine 
spectacle!" 

But  at  the  root  of  this  argument  there  is  a  great 
error.  Those  who  propoimd  it  have  never  paused 
to  inquire  whence  come  the  fortunes  of  the  rich. 
A  little  thought  would,  however,  suffice  to  show 
them  that  these  fortunes  have  their  beginnings  in 
the  poverty  of  the  poor.  When  there  are  no  longer 
any  destitute  there  will  no  longer  be  any  rich  to 
exploit  them. 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  Middle  Ages, 
when  great  fortunes  began  to  spring  up. 

A  feudal  baron  seizes  on  a  fertile  valley.  But 
as  long  as  the  fertile  valley  is  empty  of  folk  our 
baron  is  not  rich.  His  land  brings  him  in  nothing; 
he  might  as  well  possess  a  property  in  the  moon. 

What  does  our  baron  do  to  enrich  himself?  He 
looks  out  for  peasants  —  for  poor  peasants ! 

If  every  peasant-farmer  had  a  piece  of  land,  free 
from  rent  and  taxes,  if  he  had  in  addition  the  tools 
and  the  stock  necessary  for  farm  labour,  who  would 
plough  the  lands  of  the  baron?  Everyone  would 
look  after  his  own.  But  there  are  thousands  of 
.destitute  persons  ruined  by  wars,  or  drought,  or 
pestilence.  They  have  neither  horse  nor  plough. 
(Iron  was  costly  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  a  draught- 
horse  still  more  so.) 


Expropriation  47 

All  these  destitute  creatures  are  trying  to  better 
their  condition.  One  day  they  see  on  the  road  at 
the  confines  of  our  baron's  estate  a  notice-board 
indicating  by  certain  signs  adapted  to  their  com- 
prehension that  the  labourer  who  is  willing  to  settle 
on  this  estate  will  receive  the  tools  and  materials 
to  build  his  cottage  and  sow  his  fields,  and  a  portion 
of  land  rent  free  for  a  certain  number  of  years.  The 
number  of  years  is  represented  by  so  many  crosses 
on  the  sign -board,  and  the  peasant  understands  the 
meaning  of  these  crosses. 

So  the  poor  wretches  swarm  over  the  baron's 
lands,  making  roads,  draining  marshes,  building 
villages.  In  nine  years  he  begins  to  tax  them. 
Five  years  later  he  increases  the  rent.  Then  he 
doubles  it.  The  peasant  accepts  these  new  condi- 
tions because  he  cannot  find  better  ones  elsewhere; 
and  little  by  little,  with  the  aid  of  laws  made  by  the 
barons,  the  poverty  of  the  peasant  becomes  the 
source  of  the  landlord's  wealth.  And  it  is  not  only 
the  lord  of  the  manor  who  preys  upon  him.  A  whole 
host  of  usurers  swoop  down  upon  the  villages,  multi- 
plying as  the  wretchedness  of  the  peasants  increases. 
That  is  how  things  went  in  the  Middle  Ages.  And 
to-day  is  it  not  still  the  same  thing?  If  there  were 
free  lands  which  the  peasant  could  cultivate  if  he 
pleased,  would  he  pay  ;^5o  to  some  "shabble  of  a 
duke"*  for  condescending  to  sell  him  a  scrap? 
Would   he    burden    himself    with    a    lease   which 

*  "Shabble  of  a  Duke"  is  an  expression  coined  by  Carlyle; 
it  is  a  somewhat  free  rendering  of  Kropotkine's  "Monsieur  le 
Vicomte,"  but  I  think  it  expresses  his  meaning.  —  Trans. 


48  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

absorbed  a  third  of  the  produce?  Would  he  —  on 
the  mitayer  system  —  consent  to  give  the  half  of 
his  harvest  to  the  landowner? 

But  he  has  nothing.  So  he  will  accept  any  con- 
ditions, if  only  he  can  keep  body  and  soul  together, 
while  he  tills  the  soil  and  enriches  the  landlord. 

So  in  the  nineteenth  century,  just  as  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  poverty  of  the  peasant  is  a  source  of  wealth 
to  the  landed  proprietor. 

II 

The  landlord  owes  his  riches  to  the  poverty  of 
the  peasants,  and  the  wealth  of  the  capitalist  comes 
from  the  same  source. 

Take  the  case  of  a  citizen  of  the  middle  class,  who 
somehow  or  other  finds  himself  in  possession  of 
;£2o,ooo.  He  could,  of  course,  spend  his  money  at 
the  rate  of  ;;^2,ooo  a  year,  a  mere  bagatelle  in  these 
days  of  fantastic,  senseless  luxury.  But  then  he 
would  have  nothing  left  at  the  end  of  ten  years. 
So,  being  a  "practical  person,"  he  prefers  to  keep 
his  fortune  intact,  and  win  for  himself  a  snug  little 
annual  income  as  well. 

This  is  very  easy  in  our  society,  for  the  good 
reason  that  the  towns  and  villages  swarm  with 
workers  who  have  not  the  wherewithal  to  live  for 
a  month,  or  even  a  fortnight.  So  our  worthy  citizen 
starts  a  factory.  The  banks  hasten  to  lend  him 
another  ;;S2o,ooo,  especially  if  he  has  a  reputation 
for  "business  ability";  and  with  this  round  sum 
he  can  command  the  labour  of  five  hundred  hands. 


Expropriation  49 

If  all  the  men  and  women  in  the  country-side 
had  their  daily  bread  sure  and  their  daily  needs 
already  satisfied,  who  would  work  for  our  capitalist 
at  a  wage  of  half  a  crown  a  day,  while  the  com- 
modities one  produces  in  a  day  sell  in  the  market 
for  a  crown  or  more  ? 

Unhappily  —  we  know  it  all  too  well  —  the  poor 
quarters  of  our  towns  and  the  neighbouring  villages 
are  full  of  needy  wretches,  whose  children  clamour 
for  bread.  So,  before  the  factory  is  well  finished, 
the  workers  hasten  to  offer  themselves.  Where  a 
hundred  are  required  three  hundred  besiege  the 
doors,  and  from  the  time  his  mill  is  started  the  owner, 
if  he  only  has  average  business  capacities,  will  clear 
;^4o  a  year  out  of  each  mill-hand  he  employs. 

He  is  thus  able  to  lay  by  a  snug  little  fortune; 
and  if  he  chooses  a  lucrative  trade  and  has  "busi- 
ness talents  "  he  will  soon  increase  his  income  by 
doubling  the  number  of  the  men  he  exploits. 

So  he  becomes  a  personage  of  importance.  He 
can  afford  to  give  dinners  to  others  personages  —  to 
the  local  magnates,  the  civic,  legal,  and  political 
dignitaries.  With  his  money  he  can  ' '  marry  money ' ' ; 
by  and  by  he  may  pick  and  choose  places  for  his 
children,  and  later  on  perhaps  get  something  good 
from  the  Government  —  a  contract  for  the  army 
or  for  the  police.  His  gold  breeds  gold;  till  at 
last  a  war,  or  even  a  rumour  of  war,  or  a  specula- 
tion on  the  Stock  Exchange,  gives  him  his  great 
opportunity. 

Nine-tenths  of  the  great  fortunes  made  in  the 
United  States  are  (as  Henry  George  has  shown  in 


50  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

his  "Social  Problems")  the  result  of  knavery  on  a 
large    scale,    assisted    by    the    State.     In    Europe,  - 
nine-tenths  of  the  fortunes  made  in  our  monarchies 
and   republics   have   the   same   origin.     There   are 
not  two  ways  of  becoming  a  millionaire. 

This  is  the  secret  of  wealth ;  find  the  starving  and 
destitute,  pay  them  half  a  crown,  and  make  them 
produce  five  shillings  worth  in  the  day,  amass  a 
fortune  by  these  means,  and  then  increase  it  by 
some  lucky  hit,  made  with  the  help  of  the  State. 

Need  we  go  on  to  speak  of  small  fortunes  attri- 
buted by  the  economists  to  forethought  and  frugality, 
when  we  know  that  mere  saving  in  itself  brings  in 
nothing,  so  long  as  the  pence  saved  are  not  used  to 
exploit  the  famishing  ? 

Take  a  shoemaker,  for  instance.  Grant  that  his 
work  is  well  paid,  that  he  has  plenty  of  custom, 
and  that  by  dint  of  strict  frugality  he  contrives  to 
lay  by  from  eighteen  pence  to  two  shillings  a  day, 
perhaps  two  pounds  a  month. 

Grant  that  our  shoemaker  is  never  ill,  that  he 
does  not  half  starve  himself,  in  spite  of  his  passion 
for  economy;  that  he  does  not  marry  or  that  he 
has  no  children ;  that  he  does  not  die  of  consumption ; 
suppose  anything  and  everything  you  please ! 

Well,  at  the  age  of  fifty  he  will  not  have  scraped 
together  ;^8oo ;  and  he  will  not  have  enough  to  live 
on  during  his  old  age,  when  he  is  past  work.  As- 
suredly this  is  not  how  great  fortunes  are  made. 
But  suppose  our  shoemaker,  as  soon  as  he  has  laid 
by  a  few  pence,  thriftily  conveys  them  to  the  savings 
bank,  and  that  the  savings  bank  lends  them  to  the 


Expropriation  5 1 

capitalist  who  is  just  about  to  "employ  labour," 
i.e.  to  exploit  the  poor.  Then  our  shoemaker  takes 
an  apprentice,  the  child  of  some  poor  wretch,  who 
will  think  himself  lucky  if  in  five  years  time  his 
son  has  learned  the  trade  and  is  able  to  earn  his 
Hving. 

Meanwhile  our  shoemaker  does  not  lose  by  him, 
and  if  trade  is  brisk  he  soon  takes  a  second,  and  then 
a  third  apprentice.  By  and  by  he  will  take  two  or 
three  working  men  —  poor  wretches,  thankful  to 
receive  half  a  crown  a  day  for  work  that  is  worth 
five  shilHngs,  and  if  our  shoemaker  is  "in  luck," 
that  is  to  say,  if  he  is  keen  enough  and  mean  enough, 
his  working  men  and  apprentices  will  bring  him  in 
nearly  one  pound  a  day,  over  and  above  the  product 
of  his  own  toil.  He  can  then  enlarge  his  business. 
He  will  gradually  become  rich,  and  no  longer  have 
any  need  to  stint  himself  in  the  necessaries  of  life. 
He  will  leave  a  snug  little  fortune  to  his  son. 

That  is  what  people  call  "being  economical  and 
having  frugal,  temperate  habits."  At  bottom  it  is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  grinding  the  face  of  the 
poor. 

Commerce  seems  an  exception  to  this  rule.  ' '  Such 
a  man,"  we  are  told,  "buys  tea  in  China,  brings  it 
to  France,  and  realizes  a  profit  of  thirty  per  cent  on 
his  original  outlay.     He  has  exploited  nobody." 

Nevertheless  the  case  is  analogous.  If  our  mer- 
chant had  carried  his  bales  on  his  back,  well  and 
good!  In  early  medieval  times  that  was  exactly 
how  foreign  trade  was  conducted,  and  so  no  one 
reached  such  giddy  heights  of  fortime  as  in  our  days 


52  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

Very  few  and  very  hardly  earned  were  the  gold 
coins  which  the  medieval  merchant  gained  from  a 
long  and  dangerous  voyage.  It  was  less  the  love  of 
money  than  the  thirst  of  travel  and  adventure  that 
inspired  his  undertakings. 

Nowadays  the  method  is  simpler.  A  merchant 
who  has  some  capital  need  not  stir  from  his  desk 
to  become  wealthy.  He  telegraphs  to  an  agent 
telling  him  to  buy  a  himdred  tons  of  tea ;  he  freights 
a  ship,  and  in  a  few  weeks,  in  three  months  if  it  is  a 
sailing  ship,  the  vessel  brings  him  his  cargo.  He 
does  not  even  take  the  risks  of  the  voyage,  for  his 
tea  and  his  vessel  are  insured,  and  if  he  has  ex- 
pended four  thousand  pounds  he  will  receive  more 
than  five  thousand;  that  is  to  say,  if  he  has  not 
attempted  to  speculate  in  some  novel  commodities, 
in  which  case  he  runs  a  chance  of  either  doubling 
his  fortune  or  losing  it  altogether. 

Now,  how  could  he  find  men  willing  to  cross  the 
sea,  to  travel  to  China  and  back,  to  endure  hard- 
ship and  slavish  toil  and  to  risk  their  lives  for 
a  miserable  pittance?  How  could  he  find  dock 
labourers  willing  to  load  and  unload  his  ships  for 
"starvation  wages"?  How?  Because  they  are 
needy  and  starving.  Gk)  to  the  seaports,  visit  the 
cook-shops  and  taverns  on  the  quays,  and  look  at 
these  men  who  have  come  to  hire  themselves, 
crowding  round  the  dock-gates,  which  they  besiege 
from  early  dawn,  hoping  to  be  allowed  to  work  on 
the  vessels.  Look  at  these  sailors,  happy  to  be  hired 
for  a  long  voyage,  after  weeks  and  months  of  waiting. 
All  their  lives  long  they  have  gone  to  the  sea  in  ships, 


Expropriation  53 

and  they  will  sail  in  others  still,  until  they  have 
perished  in  the  waves. 

Enter  their  homes,  look  at  their  wives  and  children 
in  rags,  living  one  knows  not  how  till  the  father's 
return,  and  you  will  have  the  answer  to  the  question. 
Multiply  examples,  choose  them  where  you  will, 
consider  the  origin  of  all  fortiines,  large  or  small, 
whether  arising  out  of  commerce,  finance,  manu- 
factures, or  the  land.  Everywhere  you  will  find 
that  the  wealth  of  the  wealthy  springs  from  the 
poverty  of  the  poor.  This  is  why  an  anarchist 
society  need  not  fear  the  advent  of  a  Rothschild 
who  would  settle  in  its  midst.  If  every  member 
of  the  community  knows  that  after  a  few  hours  of 
productive  toil  he  will  have  a  right  to  all  the  pleasures 
that  civilization  procures,  and  to  those  deeper  sources 
of  enjoyment  which  art  and  science  ofTer  to  all  who 
seek  them,  he  will  not  sell  his  strength  for  a  starva- 
tion wage.  No  one  will  volunteer  to  work  for  the 
enrichment  of  your  Rothschild.  His  golden  guineas 
will  be  only  so  many  pieces  of  metal  —  useful  for 
various  purposes,  but  incapable  of  breeding  more. 

In  answering  the  above  objection  we  have  at  the 
same  time  indicated  the  scope  of  Expropriation. 
It  must  apply  to  everything  that  enables  any  man  — 
be  he  financier,  mill-owner,  or  landlord  —  to  appro- 
priate the  product  of  others'  toil  Our  formula  is 
simple  and  comprehensive. 

We  do  not  want  to  rob  any  one  of  his  coat,  but  we 
wish  to  give  to  the  workers  all  those  things  the  lack 
of  which  makes  them  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  ex- 
ploiter, and  we  will  do  our  utmost  that  none  shall 


54  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

lack  aught,  that  not  a  single  man  shall  be  forced  to 
sell  the  strength  of  his  right  arm  to  obtain  a  bare 
subsistence  for  himself  and  his  babes.  This  is  what 
we  mean  when  we  talk  of  Expropriation;  this  will 
be  our  duty  diuing  the  Revolution,  for  whose  coming 
we  look,  not  two  himdred  years  hence,  but  soon, 
very  soon. 

Ill 

The  ideas  of  Anarchism  in  general  and  of  Ex- 
propriation in  particiilar  find  much  more  sympathy 
than  we  are  apt  to  imagine  among  men  of  inde- 
pendent character,  and  those  for  whom  idleness  is 
not  the  supreme  ideal.  "  Still,"  oiu:  friends  often 
warn  us,  "take  care  you  do  not  go  too  far!  Hu- 
manity cannot  be  changed  in  a  day,  so  do  not  be  in 
too  great  a  hurry  with  your  schemes  of  Expro- 
priation and  Anarchy,  or  you  vnM  be  in  danger  of 
achieving  no  permanent  result." 

Now,  what  we  fear  with  regard  to  Expropriation 
is  exactly  the  contrary'.  We  are  afraid  of  not  going 
far  enough,  of  carrying  out  Expropriation  on  too 
small  a  scale  to  be  lasting.  We  would  not  have  the 
revolutionary  impulse  arrested  in  mid-career,  to 
exhaust  itself  in  half  measures,  which  would  content 
no  one,  and  while  producing  a  tremendous  confusion 
in  society,  and  stopping  its  customary  activities, 
would  have  no  vital  power  —  would  merely  spread 
general  discontent  and*  inevitably  prepare  the  way 
for  the  triumph  of  reaction. 

There  are,  in  fact,  in  a  modem  State  established 
relations  which  it  is  practically  impossible  to  modify 


Expropriation  55 

if  one  attacks  them  only  in  detail.  There  are 
wheels  within  wheels  in  our  economic  organization 
—  the  machinery  is  so  complex  and  interdependent 
that  no  one  part  can  be  modified  without  disturb- 
ing the  whole.  This  becomes  clear  as  soon  as  an 
attempt  is  made  to  expropriate  anything. 

Let  us  suppose  that  in  a  certain  country  a  limited 
form  of  expropriation  is  effected.  For  example, 
that,  as  it  has  been  suggested  more  than  once,  only 
the  property  of  the  great  landlords  is  socialized, 
whilst  the  factories  are  left  untouched;  or  that,  in 
a  certain  city,  house  property  is  taken  over  by  the 
Commime,  but  everything  else  is  left  in  private 
ownership;  or  that,  in  some  "manufacturing  centre, 
the  factories  are  communalized,  but  the  land  is  not 
interfered  with. 

The  same  result  would  follow  in  each  case  —  a 
terrible  shattering  of  the  industrial  system,  without 
the  means  of  reorganizing  it  on  new  lines.  Industry 
and  finance  would  be  at  a  deadlock,  yet  a  return  to 
the  first  principles  of  justice  would  not  have  been 
achieved,  and  society  would  find  itself  powerless  to 
construct  a  harmonious  whole. 

If  agriculture  could  free  itself  from  great  land- 
owners, while  industry  still  remained  the  bondslave 
of  the  capitalist,  the  merchant,  and  the  banker, 
nothing  would  be  accomplished.  The  peasant 
suffers  to-day  not  only  in  ha\dng  to  pay  rent  to  the 
landlord;  he  is  oppressed  on  all  hands  by  existing 
conditions.  He  is  exploited  by  the  tradesman, 
who  makes  him  pay  half  a  crown  for  a  spade  which, 
measured  by  the  labour  spent  on  it,  is  not  worth 


5^  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

more  than  sixpence.  He  is  taxed  by  the  State, 
which  cannot  do  without  its  formidable  hierarchy 
of  officials,  and  finds  it  necessary  to  maintain  an 
expensive  army,  because  the  traders  of  all  nations 
are  perpetually  fighting  for  the  markets,  and  any 
day  a  little  quarrel  arising  from  the  exploitation  of 
some  part  of  Asia  or  Africa  may  result  in  war. 

Then  again  the  peasant  suffers  from  the  depopu- 
lation of  country  places:  the  young  people  are 
attracted  to  the  large  manufacturing  towns  by  the 
bait  of  high  wages  paid  temporarily  by  the  pro- 
ducers of  articles  of  luxury,  or  by  the  attractions  of 
a  more  stirring  life.  The  artificial  protection  of 
industry,  the  industrial  exploitation  of  foreign  coun- 
tries, the  prevalence  of  stock- jobbing,  the  difficulty 
of  improving  the  soil  and  the  machinery  of  pro- 
duction —  all  these  agencies  combine  nowadays  to 
work  against  agriculture,  which  is  burdened  not  only 
by  rent,  but  by  the  whole  complex  of  conditions  in 
a  society  based  on  exploitation.  Thus,  even  if  the 
expropriation  of  land  were  accomplished,  and  every 
one  were  free  to  till  the  soil  and  cultivate  it  to  the 
best  advantage,  without  paying  rent,  agriculture, 
even  though  it  should  enjoy  —  which  can  by  no 
means  be  taken  for  granted  —  a  momentary  pros- 
perity, would  soon  fall  back  into  the  slough  in  which 
it  finds  itself  to-day.  The  whole  thing  would  have 
to  be  begun  over  again,  with  increased  difficulties. 

The  same  holds  true  of  industry.  Take  the 
converse  case:  instead  of  turning  the  agricultural 
labourers  into  peasant-proprietors,  make  over  the 
factories  to  those  who  work  in  them.    Abolish  the 


Expropriation  57 

master-manufacturers,  but  leave  the  liandlord  his 
land,  the  banker  his  money,  the  merchant  his  Ex- 
change, maintain  the  swarm  of  idlers  who  live  on 
the  toil  of  the  workmen,  the  thousand  and  one 
middlemen,  the  State  with  its  numberless  officials, 
and  industry  would  come  to  a  standstill.  Finding 
no  purchasers  in  the  mass  of  peasants  who  would 
remain  poor;  not  possessing  the  raw  material,  and 
unable  to  export  their  produce,  partly  on  account 
of  the  stoppage  of  trade,  and  still  more  so  because 
industries  spread  all  over  the  world,  the  manufac- 
turers would  feel  imable  to  struggle,  and  thousands 
of  workers  would  be  thrown  upon  the  streets.  These 
starving  crowds  would  be  ready  and  willing  to  submit 
to  the  first  schemer  who  came  to  exploit  them ;  they 
would  even  consent  to  return  to  the  old  slavery,  if 
only  imder  promise  of  work. 

Or,  finally,  suppose  you  oust  the  landowners,  and 
hand  over  the  mills  and  factories  to  the  worker, 
without  interfering  with  the  swarm  of  middlemen 
who  drain  the  product  of  our  maniifacturers,  and 
speculate  in  com  and  flour,  meat  and  groceries,  in 
our  great  centres  of  commerce.  Then,  as  soon  as 
exchange  is  arrested,  the  great  cities  are  left  without 
bread,  and  others  find  no  buyers  for  their  articles 
of  luxury,  a  terrible  counter-revolution  will  take 
place  —  a  counter-revolution  treading  upon  the 
slain,  sweeping  the  towns  and  villages  with  shot 
and  shell;  there  would  be  proscriptions,  panic,  flight, 
and  all  the  terrors  of  the  guillotine,  as  it  was  in 
France  in  1815,  1848,  and  1871. 

All  is  interdependent  in  a  civilized  society;  it  is 


5^  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

impossible  to  reform  any  one  thing  -without  altering 
the  whole.  Therefore,  on  the  day  we  strike  at 
private  property,  under  any  one  of  its  forms,  terri- 
torial or  industrial,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  attack 
them  aU.  The  very  success  of  the  Revolution  will 
demand  it. 

Besides,  we  could  not,  if  we  would,  confine  our- 
selves to  a  partial  expropriation.  Once  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  "Divine  Right  of  Property"  is  shaken, 
no  amount  of  theorizing  will  prevent  its  overthrow, 
here  by  the  slaves  of  the  toil,  there  by  the  slaves  of 
the  machine. 

If  a  great  town,  Paris  for  example,  were  to  confine 
itself  to  taking  possession  of  the  dwelling  houses 
or  the  factories,  it  would  be  forced  also  to  deny  the 
right  of  the  bankers  to  levy  upon  the  Commime  a 
tax  amounting  to  ;^2, 000,000,  in  the  form  of  interest 
for  former  loans.  The  great  city  would  be  obliged 
to  put  itself  in  touch  with  the  rural  districts,  and  its 
influence  would  inevitably  urge  the  peasants  to  free 
themselves  from  the  landowner.  It  would  be 
i%ecessary  to  commimalize  the  railways,  that  the 
citizens  might  get  food  and  work,  and  lastly,  to 
prevent  the  waste  of  supplies,  and  to  guard  against 
the  trust  of  corn-speculators,  like  those  to  whom 
the  Commime  of  1793  fell  a  prey,  it  would  have  to 
place  in  the  hands  of  the  City  the  work  of  stocking 
its  warehouses  with  commodites,  and  apportioning 
the  produce. 

Nevertheless,  some  Socialists  still  seek  to  estab- 
lish a  distinction.  "Of  course,"  they  say,  "the 
soil,  the  mines,  the  mills,  and  manufactures  must 


Expropriation  59 

be  expropriated,  these  are  the  instruments  of  pro- 
duction, and  it  is  right  we  should  consider  them 
public  property.  But  articles  of  consumption  — 
food,  clothes,  and  dwellings  —  should  ren^ain  private 
property." 

Popular  common  sense  has  got  the  better  of  this 
subtle  distinction.  We  are  not  savages  who  can 
live  in  the  woods,  without  other  shelter  than  the 
branches.  The  civiHzed  man  needs  a  roof,  a  room, 
a  hearth,  and  a  bed.  It  is  true  that  the  bed,  the 
room,  and  the  house  is  a  home  of  idleness  for  the 
non-producer.  But  for  the  worker,  a  room,  properly 
heated  and  lighted,  is  as  much  an  instrument  of 
production  as  the  tool  or  the  machine.  It  is  the 
place  where  the  nerves  and  sinews  gather  strength 
for  the  work  of  the  morrow.  The  rest  of  the  work- 
man is  the  daily  repairing  of  the  machine. 

The  same  argument  applies  even  more  obviously 
to  food.  The  so-called  economists  of  whom  we 
speak  would  hardly  deny  that  the  coal  burnt  in  a 
machine  is  as  necessary  to  production  as  the  raw 
material  itself.  How  then  can  food,  without  which 
the  human  machine  could  do  no  work,  be  excluded 
from  the  list  of  things  indispensable  to  the  producer  ? 
Can  this  be  a  relic  of  religious  metaphysics?  The 
rich  man's  feast  is  indeed  a  matter  of  luxury,  but 
the  food  of  the  worker  is  just  as  much  a  part  of  pro- 
duction as  the  fuel  burnt  by  the  steam-engine. 

The  same  with  clothing.  If  the  economists  who 
draw  this  distinction  between  articles  of  production 
and  of  consumption  dressed  themselves  in  the  fashion 
of  New  Guinea,  we  could  understand  their  objection. 


6o  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

But  men  who  could  not  write  a  word  without  a 
shirt  on  their  back  are  not  in  a  position  to  draw  such 
a  hard  and  fast  line  between  their  shirt  and  their  pen. 
And  though  the  dainty  gowns  of  their  dames  must 
certainly  rank  as  objects  of  luxury,  there  is  never- 
theless a  certain  quantity  of  linen,  cotton,  and 
woollen  stuff  which  is  a  necessity  of  hfe  to  the 
producer.  The  shirt  and  shoes  in  which  he  goes  to 
his  work,  his  cap  and  the  jacket  he  slips  on  after  the 
day's  toil  is  over,  these  are  as  necessary  to  him  as 
the  hammer  to  the  anvil. 

Whether  we  like  it  or  not,  this  is  what  the  people 
mean  by  a  revolution.  As  soon  as  they  have  made 
a  clean  sweep  of  the  Government,  they  will  seek 
first  of  all  to  ensure  to  themselves  decent  dwellings 
and  sufficient  food  and  clothes  —  free  of  capitaHst 
rent. 

And  the  people  will  be  right.  The  methods  of 
the  people  will  be  much  more  in  accordance  with 
science  than  those  of  the  economists  who  draw  so 
many  distinctions  between  instruments  of  pro- 
duction and  articles  of  consumption.  The  people 
imderstand  that  this  is  just  the  point  where  the 
Revolution  ought  to  begin;  and  they  will  lay  the 
foundations  of  the  only  economic  science  worthy 
the  name  —  a  science  which  might  be  called :  "  The 
Study  of  the  Needs  of  Humanity,  and  of  the  Economic 
Means  to  satisfy  them.'' 


CHAPTER  V 
Food 


If  the  coming  Revolution  is  to  be  a  Social  Revo- 
lution it  will  be  distinguished  from  all  former  up- 
risings not  only  by  its  aim,  but  also  by  its  methods. 
To  attain  a  new  end,  new  means  are  required. 

The  three  great  popular  movements  which  we 
have  seen  in  France  during  the  last  hundred  years 
differ  from  each  other  in  many  ways,  but  they 
have  one  common  feature. 

In  each  case  the  people  strove  to  overturn  the 
old  regime,  and  spent  their  heart's  blood  for  the 
cause.  Then,  after  having  borne  the  brunt  of  the 
battle,  they  sank  again  into  obscurity.  A  Govern- 
ment, composed  of  men  more  or  less  honest,  was 
formed  and  undertook  to  organize  —  the  Republic 
in  1793,  Labour  in  1848,  and  the  Free  Commune  in 
1 87 1.  Imbued  with  Jacobin  ideas,  this  Govern- 
ment occupied  itself  first  of  all  with  poHtical 
questions,  such  as  the  reorganization  of  the 
machinery  of  government,  the  purifying  of  the 
administration,  the  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
civic  liberty,  and  such  matters.  It  is  true  the 
workmen's  clubs  kept  an  eye  on  the  members  of 
the  new  Government,  and  often  imposed  their  ideas 
on  them.     But  even  in  these  clubs,   whether  the 

61 


6^  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

leaders  belonged  to  the  middle  or  to  the  working 
classes,  it  was  always  middle-class  ideas  which 
prevailed.  They  discussed  various  political 
questions  at  great  length,  but  forgot  to  discuss  the 
question  of  bread. 

Great  ideas  sprang  up  at  such  times,  ideas  that 
have  moved  the  world;  words  were  spoken  which 
still  stir  our  hearts,  at  the  interval  of  a  century. 
But  the  people  were  starving  in  the  slums. 

From  the  very  commencement  of  the  Revolu- 
tion industry  inevitably  came  to  a  stop  —  the 
circulation  of  produce  was  checked,  and  capital 
concealed  itself.  The  master  —  the  employer  — 
had  nothing  to  fear  at  such  times,  he  battened  on 
his  dividends,  if  indeed  he  did  not  speculate  on  the 
wretchedness  around;  but  the  wage-earner  was 
reduced  to  live  from  hand  to  mouth.  Want  knocked 
at  the  door. 

Famine  was  abroad  in  the  land  —  such  famine 
as  had  hardly  been  seen  under  the  old  regime. 

"The  Girondists  are  starving  us!"  was  the  cry 
in  the  workmen's  quarters  in  1793,  and  thereupon 
the  Girondists  were  guillotined,  and  full  powers 
were  given  to  "the  Mountain"  and  to  the  Commune. 
The  Commune  indeed  concerned  itself  with  the 
question  of  bread,  and  made  heroic  efforts  to  feed 
Paris.  At  Lyons,  Fouch6  and  CoUot  d'Herbois 
established  city  granaries,  but  the  sums  spent  on 
filling  them  were  woefully  insufficient.  The  town 
councils  made  great  efforts  to  procure  com;  the 
bakers  who  hoarded  flour  were  hanged  —  and  still 
the  people  lacked  bread. 


Food  6$ 

Then  they  turned  on  the  royalist  conspirators 
and  laid  the  blame  at  their  door.  They  guillotined 
a  dozen  or  fifteen  a  day  —  servants  and  duchesses 
alike,  especially  servants,  for  the  duchesses  had 
gone  to  Coblentz.  But  if  they  had  guillotined  a 
hundred  dukes  and  viscounts  every  day,  it  would 
have  been  equally  hopeless. 

The  want  only  grew.  For  the  wage-earner  can- 
not live  without  his  wage,  and  the  wage  was  not 
forthcoming.  What  difference  could  a  thousand 
corpses  more  or  less  make  to  him? 

Then  the  people  began  to  grow  weary.  "So 
much  for  your  vaunted  Revolution!  You  are 
more  wretched  than  ever  before,"  whispered  the 
reactionary  in  the  ears  of  the  worker.  And  Httle 
by  little  the  rich  took  courage,  emerged  from  their 
hiding-places,  and  flaunted  their  luxury  in  the  face 
of  the  starving  multitude.  They  dressed  up  like 
scented  fops  and  said  to  the  workers:  "Come, 
enough  of  this  foolery!  What  have  you  gained 
by  rebellion?" 

Sick  at  heart,  his  patience  at  an  end,  the  revo- 
lutionary had  at  last  to  admit  to  himself  that  the 
cause  was  lost  once  more.  He  retreated  into  his 
hovel  and  awaited  the  worst. 

Then  reaction  proudly  asserted  itself,  and  accom- 
plished a  politic  stroke.  The  Revolution  dead, 
nothing  remained  but  to  trample  its  corpse  tmder 
foot. 

The  Wliite  Terror  began.  Blood  flowed  like 
water,  the  guillotine  was  never  idle,  the  prisons 
were  crowded,  while  the  pageant  of  rank  and  fashion 


64  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

resumed  its  old  course,  and  went  on  as  merrily  as 
before. 

This  picture  is  typical  of  all  our  revolutions.  In 
1848  the  workers  of  Paris  placed  "three  months  of 
starvation"  at  the  service  of  the  Republic,  and  then, 
having  reached  the  limit  of  their  powers,  they  made 
one  last  desperate  effort  —  an  effort  which  was 
drowned  in  blood.  In  1871  the  Commune  perished 
for  lack  of  combatants.  It  had  taken  measures  for 
the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  but  it  neglected, 
alas,  until  too  late,  to  take  measures  for  providing 
the  people  with  bread.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  in 
Paris  that  elegantes  and  fine  gentlemen  could  spurn 
the  confederates,  and  bid  them  go  sell  their  lives 
for  a  miserable  pittance,  and  leave  their  "betters" 
to  feast  at  their  ease  in  fashionable  restaurants. 

At  last  the  Commune  saw  its  mistake,  and  opened 
communal  kitchens.  But  it  was  too  late.  Its  days 
were  already  numbered,  and  the  troops  of  Versailles 
were  on  the  ramparts. 

"  Bread,  it  is  bread  that  the  Revolution  needs!" 
Let  others  spend  their  time  in  issuing  pompous 
proclamations,    in    decorating    themselves    lavishly 
with  official  gold  lace,  and  in  talking  about  political 
liberty!  .  .  . 

Be  it  ours  to  see,  from  the  first  day  of  the  Revo- 
lution to  the  last,  in  all  the  provinces  fighting  for 
freedom,  that  there  is  not  a  single  man  who  lacks 
bread,  not  a  single  woman  compelled  to  stand  with 
the  weariful  crowd  outside  the  bake-house-door, 
that  haply  a  coarse  loaf  may  be  thrown  to  her  in 


Food  65 

charity,  not  a  single  child  pining  for  want  of 
food. 

It  has  always  been  the  middle-class  idea  to 
harangue  about  "great  principles"  —  great  lies 
rather ! 

The  idea  of  the  people  will  be  to  provide  bread 
for  all.  And  while  middle-class  citizens,  and  work- 
men infested  with  middle-class  ideas  admire  their 
own  rhetoric  in  the  "Talking  Shops,"  and  " practical 
people"  are  engaged  in  endless  discussions  on  forms 
of  government,  we,  the  "Utopian  dreamers" — we 
shall  have  to  consider  the  question  of  daily  bread. 

We  have  the  temerity  to  declare  that  all  have  a 
right  to  bread,  that  there  is  bread  enough  for  all, 
and  that  with  this  watchword  of  Bread  for  All  the 
Revolution  will  triumph. 

II 

That  we  are  Utopians  is  well  known.  So  Utopian 
are  we  that  we  go  the  length  of  believing  that  the 
Revolution  can  and  ought  to  assure  shelter,  food, 
and  clothes  to  all  —  an  idea  extremely  displeasing 
to  middle-class  citizens,  whatever  their  party  colour, 
for  they  are  quite  alive  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  keep  the  upper  hand  of  a  people  whose  hunger 
is  satisfied. 

All  the  same,  we  maintain  our  contention:  bread 
must  be  found  for  the  people  of  the  Revolution, 
and  the  question  of  bread  must  take  precedence  of 
all  other  questions.  If  it  is  settled  in  the  interests 
of  the  people,  the  Revolution  will  be  on  the  right 


66  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

road;  for  in  solving  the  question  of  Bread  we  must 
accept  the  principle  of  equality,  which  will  force 
itself   upon   us   to   the    exclusion    of    every    other 
solution. 

It  is  certain  that  the  coming  Revolution  —  like 
in  that  respect  to  the  Revolution  of  1 848  —  will 
btirst  upon  us  in  the  middle  of  a  great  industrial 
crisis.  Things  have  been  seething  for  half  a  century 
now,  and  can  only  go  from  bad  to  worse.  Every- 
thing tends  that  way  —  new  nations  entering  the 
lists  of  international  trade  and  fighting  for  pos- 
session of  the  world's  markets,  wars,  taxes  ever 
increasing.  National  debts,  the  insecurity  of  the 
morrow,  and  huge  colonial  undertakings  in  every 
comer  of  the  globe. 

There  are  millions  of  unemployed  workers  in 
Europe  at  this  moment.  It  will  be  still  worse  when 
Revolution  has  burst  upon  us  and  spread  like  fire 
laid  to  a  train  of  gunpowder.  The  number  of  the 
out-of-works  will  be  doubled  as  soon  as  barricades 
are  erected  in  Europe  and  the  United  States.  What 
is  to  be  done  to  provide  these  multitudes  with  bread  ? 

We  do  not  know  whether  the  folk  who  call  them- 
selves "  practical  people"  have  ever  asked  themselves 
this  question  in  all  its  nakedness.  But  we  do  know 
that  they  wish  to  maintain  the  wage  system,  and  we 
must  therefore  expect  to  have  "  national  workshops  " 
and  "public  works"  vaunted  as  a  means  of  giving 
food  to  the  unemployed. 

Because  national  workshops  were  opened  in  1789 
and  in  1793;  because  the  same  means  were  resorted 
to   in    1848;   because    Napoleon    III    succeeded   in 


Food  67 

contenting  the  Parisian  proletariat  for  eighteen 
years  by  giving  them  public  works  —  which  cost 
Paris  to-day  its  debt  of  ;^8o,ooo,ooo  —  and  its 
municipal  tax  of  three  or  foiu"  pounds  a-head;* 
because  this  excellent  method  of  "  taming  the  beast " 
was  customary  in  Rome,  and  even  in  Egypt  four 
thousand  years  ago;  and  lastly,  because  despots, 
kings,  and  emperors  have  always  employed  the  ruse 
of  throwing  a  scrap  of  food  to  the  people  to  gain 
time  to  snatch  up  the  whip  —  it  is  natural  that 
"practical"  men  should  extol  this  method  of  per- 
pettiating  the  wage  system.  What  need  to  rack 
our  brains  when  we  have  the  time-honoured  method 
of  the  Pharaohs  at  our  disposal  ? 

Yet  should  the  Revolution  be  so  misguided  as 
to  start  on  this  path,  it  would  be  lost. 

In  1848,  when  the  national  workshops  were 
opened  on  February  27,  the  itnemployed  of  Paris 
numbered  only  800;  a  fortnight  later  they  had 
already  increased  to  49,000.  They  would  soon 
have  been  100,000,  without  counting  those  who 
crowded  in  from  the  provinces. 

Yet  at  that  time  trade  and  manufacturers  in 
France  only  employed  half  as  many  hands  as  to-day. 
And  we  know  that  in  time  of  Revolution  exchange 
and  industry  suffer  most  from  the  general  upheaval. 

To  realize  this  we  have  only  to  think  for  a  moment 
of  the  number  of  workmen  whose  labour  depends 
directly  or  indirectly  upon  export  trade,  or  of  the 

*  The  municipal  debt  of  Paris  amounted  in  1904  to 
2,266,579,100  francs,  and  the  charges  for  it  were  121,000,000 
francs. 


68  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

number  of  hands  employed  in  producing  luxuries, 
whose  consumers  are  the  middle-class  minority. 

A  revolution  in  Europe  means  the  imavoidable 
stoppage  of  at  least  half  the  factories  and  work- 
shops. It  means  millions  of  workers  and  their 
families  thrown  on  the  streets. 

And  our  "practical  men"  would  seek  to  avert 
this  truly  terrible  situation  by  means  of  national 
relief  works ;  that  is  to  say,  by  means  of  new  indus- 
tries created  on  the   spot  to  give  work  to    the 
unemployed ! 

It  is  evident,  as  Proudhon  has  already  pointed 
out,  that  the  smallest  attack  upon  property  will 
bring  in  its  train  the  complete  disorganization  of 
the  system  based  upon  private  enterprise  and 
wage  labour.  Society  itself  will  be  forced  to  take 
production  in  hand,  in  its  entirety,  and  to  reorganize 
it  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  whole  people.  But 
this  cannot  be  accomplished  in  a  day  or  a  month; 
it  must  take  a  certain  time  thus  to  reorganize  the 
system  of  production,  and  during  this  time  millions 
of  men  will  be  deprived  of  the  means  of  subsistence. 
What  then  is  to  be  done  ? 

There  is  only  one  really  practical  solution  of  the 
problem  —  boldly  to  face  the  great  task  which 
awaits  us,  and  instead  of  trying  to  patch  up  a 
situation  which  we  ourselves  have  made  untenable, 
to  proceed  to  reorganize  production  on  a  new  basis. 

Thus  the  really  practical  course  of  action,  in 
our  view,  would  be  that  the  people  should  take 
immediate  possession  of  all  the  food  of  the  insur- 
gent districts,  keeping  strict  account  of  it  all,  that 


Food  69 

none  might  be  wasted,  and  that  by  the  aid  of  these 
accumulated  resources  every  one  might  be  able 
to  tide  over  the  crisis.  During  that  time  an  agree- 
ment would  have  to  be  made  with  the  factory 
workers,  the  necessary  raw  material  given  them 
and  the  means  of  subsistence  assured  to  them  while 
they  Worked  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  agricultural 
population.  For  we  must  not  forget  that  while 
France  weaves  silks  and  satins  to  deck  the  wives  of 
German  financiers,  the  Empress  of  Russia,  and  the 
Queen  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  while  Paris 
fashions  wonderful  trinkets  and  playthings  for  rich 
folk  all  the  world  over,  two-thirds  of  the  French 
peasantry  have  not  proper  lamps  to  give  them 
light,  or  the  implements  necessary  for  modem 
agriculture.  Lastly,  unproductive  land,  of  which 
there  is  plenty,  would  have  to  be  turned  to  the  best 
advantage,  poor  soils  enriched,  and  rich  soils,  which 
yet,  tmder  the  present  system,  do  not  yield  a 
quarter,  no,  nor  a  tenth  of  what  they  might  produce, 
submitted  to  intensive  culture  and  tilled  with  as 
much  care  as  a  market  garden  or  a  flower  plot.  It 
is  impossible  to  imagine  any  other  practical  solution 
of  the  problem ;  and,  whether  we  like  it  or  not,  sheer 
^orce  of  circumstances  will  bring  it  to  pass. 


Ill 


The  most  prominent  characteristic  of  capitalism 
is  the  wage  system,  which  in  brief  amounts  to 
this :  — 

A   man,    or    a    group    of    men,    possessing    the 


70  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

necessary  capital,  starts  some  industrial  enterprise; 
he  undertakes  to  supply  the  factory  or  workshops 
with  raw  material,  to  organize  production,  to  pay 
the  employes  a  fixed  wage,  and  lastly,  to  pocket 
the  surplus  value  or  profits,  under  pretext  of  recoup- 
ing himself  for  managing  the  concern,  for  running 
the  risks  it  may  involve,  and  for  the  fiuctmations 
of  price  in  the  market  value  of  the  wares. 

To  preserve  this  system,  those  who  now  monopo- 
lize capital  would  be  ready  to  make  certain 
concessions;  to  share,  for  example,  a  part  of.  the 
profits  with  the  workers,  or  rather  to  establish  a 
"sliding  scale,"  which  would  oblige  them  to  raise 
wages  when  prices  were  high;  in  brief,  they  would 
consent  to  certain  sacrifices  on  condition  that  they 
were  still  allowed  to  direct  industry  and  to  take 
its  first  fruits. 

Collectivism,  as  we  know,  does  not  abolish  wages, 
though  it  introduces  considerable  modifications 
into  the  existing  order  of  things.  It  only  substi- 
tutes the  State,  that  is  to  say.  Representative 
Government,  national  or  local,  for  the  individual 
.employer  of  labour.  Under  Collectivism  it  is  the 
representatives  of  the  nation,  or  of  the  district, 
and  their  deputies  and  officials  who  are  to  have 
the  control  of  industry.  It  is  they  who  reserve  to 
themselves  the  right  of  employing  the  surplus  of 
production  —  in  the  interests  of  all.  Moreover, 
Collectivism  draws  a  very  subtle  but  very  far- 
reaching  distinction  between  the  work  of  the  labourer 
and  of  the  man  who  has  learned  a  craft.  Unskilled 
labour  in  the  eyes  of  the  collectivist  is  simple  labour, 


Food  71 

while  the  work  of  the  craftsman,  the  mechanic,  the 
engineer,  the  man  of  science,  etc.,  is  what  Marx 
calls  complex  labour,  and  is  entitled  to  a  higher 
wage.  But  labourers  and  craftsmen,  weavers  and 
men  of  science,  are  all  wage-servants  of  the  State  — 
"all  officials,"  as  was  said  lately,  to  gild  the  pill. 

The  coming  Revolution  can  render  no  greater 
service  to  humanity  than  to  make  the  wage  system, 
in  all  its  forms,  an  impossibility,  and  to  render 
Communism,  which  is  the  negation  of  wage-slavery, 
the  only  possible  solution. 

For  even  admitting  that  the  CoUectivist  modifi- 
cation of  the  present  system  is  possible,  if  intro- 
duced gradiially  during  a  period  of  prosperity 
and  peace  —  though  for  my  part  I  question  its 
practicability  even  under  such  conditions  —  it 
would  become  impossible  in  a  period  of  Revolu- 
tion, when  the  need  of  feeding  hungry  millions 
springs  up  with  the  jfirst  call  to  arms.  A  political 
revolution  can  be  accomplished  without  shaking 
the  foundations  of  industry,  but  a  revolution 
where  the  people  lay  hands  upon  property  will 
inevitably  paralyse  exchange  and  production. 
Millions  of  public  money  would  not  suffice  for 
wages  to  the  millions  of  out-of-works. 

This  point  cannot  be  too  much  insisted  upon; 
the  reorganization  of  industry  on  a  new  basis  (and 
we  shall  presently  show  how  tremendous  this 
problem  is)  cannot  be  accompHshed  in  a  few  days, 
nor,  on  the  other  hand,  will  the  people  submit  to  be 
half  starved  for  years  in  order  to  obHge  the  theorists 
who  uphold  the  wage  system.     To  tide  over  the 


72  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

period  of  stress  they  will  demand  what  they  have 
always  demanded  in  such  cases  —  commimization 
of  supplies  —  the  giving  of  rations. 

It  will  be  in  vain  to  preach  patience.  The  people 
will  be  patient  no  longer,  and  if  food  is  not  put  in 
common  they  will  plunder  the  bakeries. 

If  the  people  are  not  strong  enough  to  carry  all 
before  them,  they  will  be  shot  down  to  give  Collec- 
tivism a  fair  field  for  experiment.  To  this  end 
''order''  must  be  maintained  at  any  price  —  order, 
discipline,  obedience!  And  as  the  capitalists  will 
soon  realize  that  when  the  people  are  shot  down  by 
those  who  call  themselves  Revolutionists,  the  Revo- 
lution itself  will  become  hateful  in  the  eyes  of  the 
masses ;  they  will  certainly  lend  their  support  to  the 
champions  of  order  —  even  though  they  are 
collectivists.  In  such  a  line  of  conduct,  the  capi- 
talists will  see  a  means  of  hereafter  crushing  the 
collectivists  in  their  turn.  If  "  order  is  established  " 
in  this  fashion,  the  consequences  are  easy  to  foresee. 
Not  content  with  shooting  down  the  "marauders," 
the  faction  of  "order"  will  search  out  the  "ring- 
leaders of  the  mob."  They  will  set  up  again  the 
law  courts  and  reinstate  the  hangman.  The  most 
ardent  revolutionists  will  be  sent  to  the  scaffold. 
It  will  be  1793  over  again. 

Do  not  let  us  forget  how  reaction  triumphed  in 
the  last  century.  First  the  "H^bertists,"  "the 
madmen,"  were  guillotined  —  those  whom  Mignet, 
with  the  memory  of  the  struggle  fresh  upon  him, 
still  called  "Anarchists."  The  Dantonists  soon 
followed  them;  and  when  the  party  of  Robespierre 


Food  73 

had  guillotined  these  revolutionaries,  they  in  their 
turn  had  to  mount  the  scaffold;  whereupon  the 
people,  sick  of  bloodshed,  and  seeing  the  revolution 
lost,  threw  up  the  sponge,  and  let  the  reactionaries 
do  their  worst. 

If  "order  is  restored,"  we  say,  the  social  demo- 
crats will  hang  the  anarchists;  the  Fabians  will 
hang  the  social  democrats,  and  will  in  their  turn  be 
hanged  by  the  reactionaries;  and  the  Revolution 
will  come  to  an  end. 

But  everything  confirms  us  in  the  belief  that  the 
energy  of  the  people  will  carry  them  far  enough, 
and  that,  when  the  Revolution  takes  place,  the 
idea  of  anarchist  Communism  will  have  gained 
ground.  It  is  not  an  artificial  idea.  The  people 
themselves  have  breathed  it  in  our  ear,  and  the 
number  of  communists  is  ever  increasing,  as  the 
impossibility  of  any  other  solution  becomes  more 
and  more  evident. 

And  if  the  impetus  of  the  people  is  strong  enough, 
affairs  will  take  a  very  different  turn.  Instead  of 
plundering  the  bakers'  shops  one  day,  and  starving 
the  next,  the  people  of  the  insurgent  cities  will  take 
possession  of  the  warehouses,  the  cattle  markets, 
—  in  fact  of  all  the  provision  stores  and  of  all  the 
food  to  be  had.  The  well-intentioned  citizens,  men 
and  women  both,  will  form  themselves  into  bands 
of  volunteers  and  address  themselves  to  the  task  of 
making  a  rough  general  inventory  of  the  contents 
of  each  shop  and  warehouse.  In  twenty-four 
hours  the  revolted  town  or  district  will  know  what 
Paris  has  not  found  out  yet,  in  spite  of  its  statistical 


74  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

committees,  and  what  it  never  did  find  out  dtiring 
the  siege  —  the  quantity  of  provisions  it  contains. 
In  forty-eight  hours  miUions  of  copies  will  be 
printed  of  the  tables  giving  a  sufficiently  exact 
account  of  the  available  food,  the  places  where  it 
is  stored,  and  the  means  of  distribution. 

In  every  block  of  houses,  In  every  street,  in  every 
town  ward,  bands  of  volunteers  will  have  been 
organized.  These  commissariat  volunteers  will  work 
in  unison  and  keep  in  touch  with  each  other.  If 
only  the  Jacobin  bayonets  do  not  get  in  the  way; 
if  only  the  self-styled  "scientific"  theorists  do  not 
thrust  themselves  in  to  darken  counsel!  Or  rather 
let  them  expound  their  muddle-headed  theories  as 
much  as  they  like,  provided  they  have  no  authority, 
no  power!  And  that  admirable  spirit  of  organi- 
zation inherent  in  the  people,  above  all  in  every 
social  grade  of  the  French  nation,*  but  which  they 
have  so  seldom  been  allowed  to  exercise,  will  initiate, 
even  in  so  huge  a  city  as  Paris,  and  in  the  midst  of 
a  Revolution,  an  immense  guild  of  free  workers, 
ready  to  furnish  to  each  and  all  the  necessary 
food. 

Give  the  people  a  free  hand,  and  in  ten  days  the 
food  service  will  be  conducted  with  admirable  regu- 
larity. Only  those  who  have  never  seen  the  people 
hard  at  work,  only  those  who  have  passed  their 
lives  buried  among  documents,  can  doubt  it.  Speak 
of  the  organizing  genius  of  the  "Great  Misunder- 
stood," the  people,  to  those  who  have  seen  it  in 

*  Kropotkine  is  here  supposing  the  Revolution  to  break  out 
first  in  France.  —  Trans. 


Food  75 

Paris  in  the  days  of  the  barricades,  or  in  London 
during  the  great  dockers  strike,  when  half  a  miUion 
of  starving  folk  had  to  be  fed,  and  they  will  tell 
you  how  superior  it  is  to  the  official  ineptness  of 
Bumbledom. 

And  even  supposing  we  had  to  endure  a  certain 
amount  of  discomfort  and  confusion  for  a  fortnight 
or  a  month,  surely  that  would  not  matter  very 
much.  For  the  mass  of  the  people  it  would  still  be 
an  improvement  on  their  former  condition;  and, 
besides,  in  times  of  Revolution  one  can  dine  con- 
tentedly enough  on  a  bit  of  bread  and  cheese  while 
eagerly  discussing  events. 

In  any  case,  a  system  which  springs  up  spon- 
taneously, under  stress  of  immediate  need,  will  be 
infinitely  preferable  to  anything  invented  between 
four  walls  by  hide-bound  theorists  sitting  on  any 
number  of  committees. 

IV 

The  people  of  the  great  towns  will  be  driven  by 
force  of  circumstances  to  take  possession  of  all  the 
provisions,  beginning  with  the  barest  necessaries, 
and  gradually  extending  Communism  to  other  thing'", 
in  order  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  all  the  citizens. 

The  sooner  it  is  done  the  better;  the  sooner  it  is 
done  the  less  misery  there  will  be  and  the  less  strife. 

But  upon  what  basis  must  society  be  organized 
in  order  that  all  may  share  and  share  alike?  This 
is  the  question  that  meets  us  at  the  outset. 

We  answer  that  there  are  no  two  ways  of  it. 


7^  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

There  is  only  one  way  in  which  Communism  can 
be  established  equitably,  only  one  way  which  sat- 
isfies our  instincts  of  justice  and  is  at  the  same  time 
practical,  namely,  the  system  already  adopted  by  the 
agrarian  communes  of  Europe. 

Take  for  example  a  peasant  commune,  no  matter 
where,  even  in  France,  where  the  Jacobins  have 
done  their  best  to  destroy  all  communal  usage.  If 
the  commune  possesses  woods  and  copses,  then,  so 
long  as  there  is  plenty  of  wood  for  all,  every  one  can 
take  as  much  as  he  wants,  without  other  let  or  hin- 
drance than  the  public  opinion  of  his  neighbours. 
As  to  the  timber-trees,  which  are  always  scarce, 
they  have  to  be  carefully  apportioned. 

The  same  with  the  communal  pasture  land ;  while 
there  is  enough  and  to  spare,  no  limit  is  put  to  what 
the  cattle  of  each  homestead  may  consume,  nor  to 
the  number  of  beasts  grazing  upon  the  pastures. 
Grazing  grounds  are  not  divided,  nor  is  fodder  doled 
out,  unless  there  is  scarcity.  All  the  Swiss  com- 
munes, and  many  of  those  in  France  and  Germany 
too,  wherever  there  is  commtinal  pasture  land, 
practice  this  system. 

And  in  the  countries  of  Eastern  Europe,  where 
there  are  great  forests  and  no  scarcity  of  land,  you 
find  the  peasants  felling  the  trees  as  they  need  them, 
and  cultivating  as  much  of  the  soil  as  they  require, 
without  any  thought  of  limiting  each  man's  share  of 
timber  or  of  land.  But  the  timber  will  be  divided, 
and  the  land  parcelled  out,  to  each  household  ac- 
cording to  its  needs,  as  soon  as  either  becomes  scarce, 
as  is  already  the  case  in  Russia. 


Food  77 

In  a  word,"  the  system  is  this :  no  stint  or  limit  to 
what  the  community  possesses  in  abimdance,  but 
equal  sharing  and  dividing  of  those  commodities 
which  are  scarce  or  apt  to  run  short.  Of  the  three 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  who  inhabit  Europe,  two 
hundred  millions  still  follow  this  system  of  natural 
Communism. 

It  is  a  fact  worth  remarking  that  the  same  system 
prevails  in  the  great  towns  in  the  distribution  of  one 
commodity  at  least,  which  is  fotmd  in  abimdance, 
the  water  supplied  to  each  house. 

As  long  as  there  is  no  fear  of  the  supply  nmning 
short,  no  water  company  thinks  of  checking  the 
constimption  of  water  in  each  house.  Take  what 
you  please !  But  during  the  great  droughts,  if  there 
is  any  fear  of  supply  failing,  the  water  companies 
know  that  all  they  have  to  do  is  to  make  known 
the  fact,  by  means  of  a  short  advertisement  in 
the  papers,  and  the  citizens  will  reduce  their 
consumption  of  water  and  not  let  it  run  to  waste. 

But  if  water  were  actually  scarce,  what  would 
be  done?  Recourse  would  be  had  to  a  system  of 
rations.  Such  a  measure  is  so  natural,  so  inherent 
in  common  sense,  that  Paris  twice  asked  to  be  put 
on  rations  during  the  two  sieges  which  it  underwent 
in  1871. 

Is  it  necessary  to  go  into  details,  to  prepare  tables 
showing  how  the  distribution  of  rations  may  work, 
to  prove  that  it  is  just  and  equitable,  infinitely  more 
just  and  equitable  than  the  existing  state  of  things  ? 
All  these  tables  and  details  will  not  serve  to  con- 
vince those  of  the  middle  classes,  nor,  alas,  those 


78  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  the  workers  tainted  with  middle-class  prejudices, 
who  regard  the  people  as  a  mob  of  savages  ready  to 
fall  upon  and  devour  each  other,  directly  the  Gov- 
ernment ceases  to  direct  affairs.  But  those  only 
who  have  never  seen  the  people  resolve  and  act  on 
their  own  initiative  could  doubt  for  a  moment  that 
if  the  masses  were  masters  of  the  situation,  they 
would  distribute  rations  to  each  and  all  in  strictest 
accordance  with  justice  and  equity. 

If  you  were  to  give  utterance,  in  any  gathering 
of  people,  to  the  opinion  that  delicacies  —  game  and 
such-like  —  should  be  reserved  for  the  fastidious 
palates  of  aristocratic  idlers,  and  black  bread  given 
to  the  sick  in  the  hospitals,  you  would  be  hissed. 
But  say  at  the  same  gathering,  preach  at  the  street 
corners  and  in  the  market  places,  that  the  most 
tempting  delicacies  ought  to  be  kept  for  the  sick 
and  feeble  —  especially  for  the  sick.  Say  that  if 
there  are  only  five  brace  of  partridge  in  the  entire 
city,  and  only  one  case  of  sherry  wine,  they  should 
go  to  sick  people  and  convalescents.  Say  that  after 
the  sick  come  the  children.  For  them  the  milk  of  the 
cows  and  goats  should  be  reserved  if  there  is  not 
enough  for  all.  To  the  children  and  the  aged  the  last 
piece  of  meat,  and  to  the  strong  man  dry  bread, 
if  the  community  be  reduced  to  that  extremity. 

Say,  in  a  word,  that  if  this  or  that  article  of 
consumption  runs  short,  and  has  to  be  doled  out, 
to  those  who  have  most  need  most  should  be  given. 
Say  that  and  see  if  you  do  not  meet  with  universal 
agreement. 

The  man  who  is  full-fed  does  not  understand  this, 


Food  79 

but  the  people  do  understand,  have  always  under- 
stood it ;  and  even  the  child  of  luxury,  if  he  is  thrown 
on  the  street  and  comes  into  contact  with  the  masses, 
even  he  will  learn  to  understand. 

The  theorists  —  for  whom  the  soldier's  uniform 
and  the  barrack  mess  table  are  civilization's  last 
word  —  would  like  no  doubt  to  start  a  regime  of 
National  Kitchens  and  "Spartan  Broth."  They 
would  point  out  the  advantages  thereby  gained, 
the  economy  in  fuel  and  food,  if  such  huge  kitchens 
were  established,  where  every  one  could  come  for 
their  rations  of  soup  and  bread  and  vegetables. 

We  do  not  question  these  advantages.  We  are 
well  aware  that  important  economies  have  already 
been  achieved  in  this  direction  —  as,  for  instance, 
when  the  handmill,  or  quern,  and  the  baker's  oven 
attached  to  each  house  were  abandoned.  We  can 
see  perfectly  well  that  it  would  be  more  economical 
to  cook  broth  for  a  himdred  families  at  once,  instead 
of  lighting  a  hundred  separate  fires.  We  know, 
besides,  that  there  are  a  thousand  ways  of  doing 
up  potatoes,  but  that  cooked  in  one  huge  pot  for  a 
hundred  families  they  would  be  just  as  good. 

We  know,  in  fact,  that  variety  in  cooking  being 
a  matter  of  the  seasoning  introduced  by  each  cook 
or  housewife,  the  cooking  together  of  a  hundred- 
weight of  potatoes  would  not  prevent  each  cook 
or  housewife  from  dressing  and  serving  them  in 
any  way  she  pleased.  And  we  know  that  stock 
made  from  meat  can  be  converted  into  a  hundred 
different  soups  to  suit  a  hundred  different  tastes. 

But  though  we  are  quite  aware  of  all  these  facts, 


8o  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

we  still  maintain  that  no  one  has  a  right  to  force 
the  housewife  to  take  her  potatoes  from  the  com- 
munal kitchen  ready  cooked  if  she  prefers  to  cook 
them  herself  in  her  own  pot  on  her  own  fire.  And, 
above  all,  we  should  wish  each  one  to  be  free  to 
take  his  meals  with  his  family,  or  with  his  friends, 
or  even  in  a  restaurant,  if  so  it  seemed  good  to  him. 

Naturally  large  public  kitchens  will  spring  up  to 
take  the  place  of  the  restaurants,  where  people  are 
poisoned  nowadays.  Already  the  Parisian  house- 
wife gets  the  stock  for  her  soup  from  the  butcher 
and  transforms  it  into  whatever  soup  she  likes,  and 
London  housekeepers  know  that  they  can  have  a 
joint  roasted,  or  an  apple  or  rhubarb  tart  baked  at 
the  baker's  for  a  trifling  sum,  thus  economizing 
time  and  fuel.  And  when  the  communal  kitchen 
—  the  common  bakehouse  of  the  future  —  is  estab- 
lished, and  people  can  get  their  food  cooked  without 
the  risk  of  being  cheated  or  poisoned,  the  custom 
will  no  doubt  become  general  of  going  to  the  com- 
munal kitchen  for  the  fundamental  parts  of  the 
meal,  leaving  the  last  touches  to  be  added  as  indivi- 
dual taste  shall  suggest. 

But  to  make  a  hard  and  fast  rule  of  this,  to  make 
a  duty  of  taking  home  our  food  ready  cooked,  that 
would  be  as  repugnant  to  our  modem  minds  as  the 
ideas  of  the  convent  or  the  barrack  —  morbid  ideas 
born  in  brains  warped  by  tyranny  or  superstition. 

Who  will  have  a  right  to  the  food  of  the  com- 
mune? will  assuredly  be  the  first  question  which 
we  shall  have  to  ask  ourselves.  Every  township 
will  answer  for  itself,  and  we  are  convinced  that 


Food  8 1 

the  answers  will  all  be  dictated  by  the  sentiment 
of  justice.  Until  labour  is  reorganized,  as  long  as 
the  disturbed  period  lasts,  and  while  it  is  impossible 
to  distinguish  between  inveterate  idlers  and  genuine 
workers  thrown  out  of  work,  the  available  food 
ought  to  be  shared  by  all  without  exception.  Those 
who  have  been  enemies  to  the  new  order  will  hasten 
of  their  own  accord  to  rid  the  commune  of  their 
presence.  But  it  seems  to  us  that  the  masses  of 
the  people,  which  have  always  been  magnanimous, 
and  have  nothing  of  vindictiveness  in  their  dispo- 
sition, will  be  ready  to  share  their  bread  with  all 
who  remain  with  them,  conquered  and  conquerors 
alike.  It  will  be  no  loss  to  the  Revolution  to  be 
inspired  by  such  an  idea,  and,  when  work  is  set 
agoing  again,  the  antagonists  of  yesterday  will  stand 
side  by  side  in  the  same  workshops.  A  society 
where  work  is  free  will  have  nothing  to  fear  from 
idlers. 

"But  provisions  will  run  short  in  a  month!"  our 
critics  at  once  exclaim. 

"So  much  the  better,"  say  we.  It  will  prove 
that  for  the  first  time  on  record  the  people  have  had 
enough  to  eat.  As  to  the  question  of  obtaining 
fresh  suppHes,  we  shall  discuss  the  means  in  our 
next  chapter. 

V 

By  what  means  could  a  city  in  a  state  of  revolu- 
tion be  supplied  with  food?  We  shall  answer  this 
question,  but  it  is  obvious  that  the  means  resorted  to 
will  depend  on  the  character  of  the  Revolution  in  the 


82  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

provinces,  and  in  neighbouring  countries.  If  the 
entire  nation,  or,  better  still,  if  all  Europe  should 
accomplish  the  Social  Revolution  simultaneously, 
and  start  with  thorough-going  Communism,  our 
procedure  would  be  simplified;  but  if  only  a  few 
communities  in  Europe  make  the  attempt,  other 
means  will  have  to  be  chosen.  The  circumstances 
will  dictate  the  measures. 

We  are  thus  led,  before  we  proceed  further,  to 
glance  at  the  state  of  Europe,  and,  without  pre- 
tending to  prophesy,  we  may  try  to  foresee  w^hat 
course  the  Revolution  will  take,  or  at  least  what  will 
be  its  essential  features. 

Certainly  it  would  be  very  desirable  that  all 
Europe  should  rise  at  once,  that  expropriation 
should  be  general,  and  that  commtmistic  principles 
should  inspire  all  and  sundry.  Such  a  universal  rising 
would  do  much  to  simplify  the  task  of  our  century. 

But  all  the  signs  lead  us  to  believe  that  it  will 
not  take  place.  That  the  Revolution  will  embrace 
Europe  we  do  not  doubt.  If  one  of  the  four  great 
continental  capitals  —  Paris,  Vienna,  Brussels,  or 
Berlin  —  rises  in  revolution  and  overturns  its  Gov- 
ernment, it  is  almost  certain  that  the  three  others 
will  follow  its  example  within  a  few  weeks'  time. 
It  is,  moreover,  highly  probable  that  the  Peninsulas 
and  even  London  and  St.  Petersburg  would  not  be 
long  in  following  suit.  But  whether  the  Revolution 
would  everywhere  exhibit  the  same  characteristics 
is  doubtful. 

Though  it  is  more  than  probable  that  expro- 
priation will  be  everywhere  carried  into  effect  on 


Food  83 

a  larger  or  smaller  scale,  and  that  this  policy  carried 
out  by  any  one  of  the  great  nations  of  Europe  will 
influence  all  the  rest;  yet  the  beginnings  of  the 
Revolution  will  exhibit  great  local  differences,  and 
its  course  will  vary  in  different  countries.  In 
1789-93,  the  French  peasantry  took  four  years  to 
finally  rid  themselves  of  the  redemption  of  feudal 
rights,  and  the  bourgeois  to  overthrow  royalty. 
Let  us  keep  that  in  mind,  therefore,  and  be  prepared 
to  see  the  Revolution  develop  itself  somewhat 
gradually.  Let  us  not  be  disheartened  if  here  and 
there  its  steps  should  move  less  rapidly.  Whether 
it  would  take  an  avowedly  socialist  character  in 
all  European  nations,  at  any  rate  at  the  beginning, 
is  doubtful.  Germany,  be  it  remembered,  is  still 
realizing  its  dream  of  a  United  Empire.  Its  ad- 
vanced parties  see  visions  of  a  Jacobin  Republic 
like  that  of  1848,  and  of  the  organization  of  labour 
according  to  Louis  Blanc;  while  the  French  people, 
on  the  other  hand,  want  above  all  things  a  free 
Commune,  whether  it  be  a  communist  Commune 
or  not. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  when  the 
coming  Revolution  takes  place,  Germany  will  go 
further  than  France  went  in  1793.  The  eighteenth- 
century  Revolution  in  France  was  an  advance  on 
the  English  Revolution  of  the  seventeenth, 
abolishing  as  it  did  at  one  stroke  the  power  of  the 
throne  and  the  landed  aristocracy,  whose  influence 
still  survives  in  England.  But,  if  Germany  goes 
further  and  does  greater  things  than  France  did 
in  1793,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  ideas  which 


84  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

will  foster  the  birth  of  her  Revolution  will  be  those 
of  1848,  as  the  ideas  'which  will  inspire  the  Revo- 
lution in  Russia  will  be  those  of  1789,  modified 
somewhat  by  the  intellectual  movements  of  our 
own  century. 

Without,  however,  attaching  to  these  forecasts 
a  greater  importance  than  they  merit,  we  may 
safely  conclude  this  much:  the  Revolution  will 
take  a  different  character  in  each  of  the  different 
European  nations;  the  point  attained  in  the  social- 
ization of  wealth  will  not  be  everywhere  the  same. 

Will  it  therefore  be  necessary,  as  is  sometimes 
suggested,  that  the  nations  in  the  vanguard  of 
the  movement  should  adapt  their  pace  to  those 
who  lag  behind?  Must  we  wait  till  the  Commu- 
nist Revolution  is  ripe  in  all  civilized  countries? 
Clearly  not!  Even  if  it  were  a  thing  to  be  desired 
it  is  not  possible.  History  does  not  wait  for  the 
laggards. 

Besides,  we  do  not  believe  that  in  any  one  coun- 
try the  Revolution  will  be  accomplished  at  a  stroke, 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  as  some  socialists  dream. 
It  is  highly  probable  that  if  one  of  the  five  or  six 
large  towns  of  France  —  Paris,  Lyons,  Marseilles, 
Lille,  Saint-Etienne,  Bordeaux  —  were  to  proclaim 
the  Commune,  the  others  would  follow  its  example, 
and  that  man>  smaller  towns  would  do  the  same. 
Probably  also  various  mining  districts  and  indus- 
trial centres  would  hasten  to  rid  themselves  of 
"owners"  and  "masters,"  and  form  themselves 
into  free  groups. 

But  many  country  places  have  not  advanced 


Food  85 

to  that  point.  Side  by  side  with  the  revolution- 
ized communes  such  places  would  remain  in  an 
expectant  attitude,  and  would  go  on  living  on 
the  Individualist  system.  Undisturbed  by  visits 
of  the  bailiff  or  the  tax-collector,  the  peasants 
would  not  be  hostile  to  the  revolutionaries,  and 
thus,  while  profiting  by  the  new  state  of  affairs, 
they  would  defer  the  settlement  of  accounts  with 
the  local  exploiters.  But  with  that  practical  enthu- 
siasm which  always  characterizes  agrarian  uprisings 
(witness  the  passionate  toil  of  1792)  they  would 
throw  themselves  into  the  task  of  cultivating  the 
land,  which,  freed  from  taxes  and  mortgages, 
would  become  so  much  dearer  to  them. 

As  to  abroad,  revolution  would  break  out  every- 
where, but  revolution  tinder  divers  aspects;  in 
one  country  State  Socialism,  in  another  Federa- 
tion; everywhere  more  or  less  Socialism,  not  con- 
forming to  any  partictilar  rule. 


VI 

Let  lis  now  return  to  our  city  in  revolt,  and 
consider  how  its  citizens  can  provide  foodstuffs  for 
themselves.  How  are  the  necessary  provisions  to 
be  obtained  if  the  nation  as  a  whole  has  not  accepted 
Communism?  This  is  the  question  to  be  solved. 
Take,  for  example,  one  of  the  large  French  towns 
—  take  the  capital  itself,  for  that  matter.  Paris 
consumes  every  year  thousands  of  tons  of  grain, 
350,000  head  of  oxen,  200,000  calves,  300,000  swine, 
and  more  than  two  millions  of  sheep,  besides  great 


86  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

quantities  of  game.  This  huge  city  devours,  besides, 
1 8  million  pounds  of  butter,  172  million  eggs,  and 
other  produce  in  like  proportion. 

It  imports  flour  and  grain  from  the  United  States 
and  from  Russia,  Hungary,  Italy,  Egypt,  and  the 
Indies ;  live  stock  from  Germany,  Italy,  Spain  — 
even  Rotimania  and  Russia;  and  as  for  groceries, 
there  is  not  a  country  in  the  world  that  it  does  not 
lay  under  contribution.  Now,  let  us  see  how  Paris 
or  any  other  great  town  could  be  revictualled  by 
home-grown  produce,  supplies  of  which  could  be 
readily  and  willingly  sent  in  from  the  provinces. 

To  those  who  put  their  trust  in  "authority"  the 
question  will  appear  quite  simple.  They  would 
begin  by  establishing  a  strongly  centralized 
Government,  furnished  with  all  the  machiner^'^  of 
coercion  —  the  police,  the  army,  the  guillotine 
This  Government  would  draw  up  a  statement  of 
all  the  produce  contained  in  France.  It  would 
divide  the  country  into  districts  of  supply,  and  then 
command  that  a  prescribed  quantity  of  some  par- 
ticular foodstuff  be  sent  to  such  a  place  on  such  a 
day,  and  delivered  at  such  a  station,  to  be  there 
received  on  a  given  day  by  a  specified  official  and 
stored  in  particular  warehouses. 

Now,  we  declare  with  the  fullest  conviction,  not 
merely  that  such  a  solution  is  undesirable,  but  that 
it  never  could  by  any  possibility  be  put  into 
practice.     It  is  wildly  Utopian ! 

Pen  in  hand,  one  may  dream  such  a  dream  in 
the  study,  but  in  contact  with  reality  it  comes  to 
nothing;  for,  like  all  such  theories,  it  leaves  out  of 


Food  87 

account  the  spirit  of  independence  that  is  in  man. 
The  attempt  would  lead  to  a  universal  uprising, 
to  three  or  four  Vendues,  to  the  villages  rising  against 
the  towns,  all  the  coimtry  up  in  arms  defying  the 
city  for  its  arrogance  in  attempting  to  impose  such 
a  system  upon  the  country. 

We  have  already  had  too  much  of  Jacobin 
Utopias!  Let  us  see  if  some  other  form  of  organi- 
zation will  meet  the  case. 

In  1793  the  provinces  starved  the  large  towns, 
and  killed  the  Revolution.  And  yet  it  is  a  known 
fact  that  the  production  of  grain  in  France  during 
1792-93  had  not  diminished;  indeed,  the  evidence 
goes  to  show  that  it  had  increased.  But  after 
having  taken  possession  of  the  manorial  lands, 
after  having  reaped  a  han-est  from  them,  the 
peasants  would  not  part  with  their  grain  for 
paper-money.  They  withheld  their  produce,  wait- 
ing for  a  rise  in  the  price,  or  the  introduction  of 
gold.  The  most  rigorous  measures  of  the  National 
Convention  were  without  avail,  and  even  the  fear  of 
death  failed  to  break  up  the  ring,  or  force  its 
members  to  sell  their  com.  For  it  is  matter  of 
history  that  the  commissaries  of  the  Convention 
did  not  scruple  to  guillotine  those  who  withheld 
their  grain  from  the  market,  and  pitilessly  executed 
those  who  speculated  in  foodstuffs.  All  the  same, 
the  com  was  not  forthcoming,  and  the  townsfolk 
suffered  from  famine. 

But  what  was  offered  to  the  husbandman  in 
exchange  for  his  hard  toil?  Assignats,  scraps 
of  paper  decreasing  in  value  every  day,   promises 


88 


The  Conquest  of  Bread 


of  payment,  which  could  not  be  kept.  A  forty- 
pound  note  would  not  purchase  a  pair  of  boots, 
and  the  peasant,  very  naturally,  was  not  anxious 
to  barter  a  year's  toil  for  a  piece  of  paper  with 
which  he  could  not  even  buy  a  shirt. 

As  long  as  worthless  paper  money  —  whether 
called  assignats  or  labour  notes  —  is  offered  to  the 
peasant-producer  it  will  always  be  the  same.  The 
country  will  withhold  its  produce,  and  the  towns 
will  suiTer  want,  even  if  the  recalcitrant  peasants 
are  guillotined  as  before. 

We  must  offer  to  the  peasant  in  exchange  for  his 
toil  not  worthless  paper  money,  but  the  manu- 
factured articles  of  which  he  stands  in  immediate 
need.  He  lacks  the  proper  implements  to  till  the 
land,  clothes  to  protect  him  properly  from  the  in- 
clemencies of  the  weather,  lamps  and  oil  to  replace 
his  miserable  rushlight  or  tallow  dip,  spades,  rakes, 
ploughs.  All  these  things,  under  present  conditions, 
the  peasant  is  forced  to  do  without,  not  because  he 
does  not  feel  the  need  of  them,  but  because,  in  his 
life  of  struggle  and  privation,  a  thousand  useful 
things  are  beyond  his  reach;  because  he  has  no 
money  to  buy  them. 

Let  the  town  apply  itself,  without  loss  of  time, 
to  manufacturing  all  that  the  peasant  needs, 
instead  of  fashioning  gewgaws  for  the  wives  of  rich 
citizens.  Let  the  sewing  machines  of  Paris  be  set 
to  work  on  clothes  for  the  country-folk:  workaday 
clothes  and  clothes  for  Simday  too,  instead  of  costly 
evening  dresses.  Let  the  factories  and  foundries 
turn   out   agricultural   implements,    spades,    rakes. 


Food  89 

and  such-like,  instead  of  waiting  till  the  English 
send  them  to  France,  in  exchange  for  French  wines! 

Let  the  towns  send  no  more  inspectors  to  the 
villages,  wearing  red,  blue,  or  rainbow-coloured 
scarves,  to  convey  to  the  peasant  orders  to  take 
his  produce  to  this  place  or  that,  but  let  them  send 
friendly  embassies  to  the  coimtry-folk  and  bid  them 
in  brotherly  fashion:  "Bring  us  your  produce,  and 
take  from  our  stores  and  shops  all  the  manufactured 
articles  you  please."  Then  provisions  would  pour 
in  on  every  side.  The  peasant  would  only  withhold 
what  he  needed  for  his  own  use,  and  would  send  the 
rest  into  the  cities,  feeHng  for  the  first  time  in  the 
course  of  history  that  these  toiling  townsfolk  were 
his  comrades  —  his  brethren,  and  not  his  exploiters. 

We  shall  be  told,  perhaps,  that  this  would 
necessitate  a  complete  transformation  of  industry. 
Well,  yes,  that  is  true  of  certain  departments;  but 
there  are  other  branches  which  could  be  rapidly 
modified  in  such  a  way  as  to  furnish  the  peasant 
with  clothes,  watches,  furniture,  and  the  simple 
implements  for  which  the  towns  make  him  pay  such 
exorbitant  prices  at  the  present  time.  Weavers, 
tailors,  shoemakers,  tinsmiths,  cabinet-makers,  and 
many  other  trades  and  crafts  could  easily  direct 
their  energies  to  the  manufacture  of  useful  and 
necessary  articles,  and  abstain  from  producing  mere 
luxuries.  All  that  is  needed  is  that  the  public  mind 
should  be  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
this  transformation,  and  should  come  to  look  upon 
it  as  an  act  of  justice  and  of  progress,  and  that  it 
should  no  longer  allow  itself  to  be  cheated  by  that 


90  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

dream,  so  dear  to  the  theorists  —  the  dream  of  a 
revolution  which  confines  itself  to  taking  possession 
of  the  profits  of  industry,  and  leaves  production 
and  commerce  jtist  as  they  are  now. 

This,  then,  is  our  view  of  the  whole  question. 
Cheat  the  peasant  no  longer  with  scraps  of  paper  — 
be  the  sums  inscribed  upon  them  ever  so  large;  but 
offer  him  in  exchange  for  his  produce  the  very  things 
of  which  he,  the  tiller  of  the  soil,  stands  in  need. 
Then  the  fruits  of  the  land  will  be  poured  into  the 
towns.  If  this  is  not  done  there  will  be  famine  in 
our  cities,  and  reaction  and  despair  will  follow  in 
its  train. 

VII 

All  the  great  towns,  we  have  said,  buy  their  grain, 
their  flour,  and  their  meat,  not  only  from  the  pro- 
vinces, but  also  from  abroad.  Foreign  countries 
send  Paris  spices,  fish,  and  various  dainties,  besides 
immense  quantities  of  corn  and  meat. 

But  when  the  Revolution  comes  we  must  depend 
on  foreign  countries  as  little  as  possible.  If  Russian 
wheat,  Italian  or  Indian  rice,  and  Spanish  or  Hun- 
garian wines  abound  in  the  markets  of  western 
Europe,  it  is  not  that  the  countries  which  export 
them  have  a  superabundance,  or  that  such  a  produce 
grows  there  of  itself,  like  the  dandelion  in  the  mea- 
dows. In  Russia,  for  instance,  the  peasant  works 
sixteen  hours  a  day,  and  half  starves  from  three  to 
six  months  every  year,  in  order  to  export  the  grain 
with  which  he  pays  the  landlord  and  the  State. 
To-day  the  police  appears  in  the  Russian  village 


Food  91 

as  soon  as  the  harvest  is  gathered  in,  and  sells  the 
peasant's  last  horse  and  last  cow  for  arrears  of  taxes 
and  rent  due  to  the  landlord,  unless  the  victim 
immolates  himself  of  his  own  accord  by  selling  the 
grain  to  the  exporters.  Usually,  rather  than  part 
with  his  live  stock  at  a  disadvantage,  he  keeps  only 
a  nine  months'  supply  of  grain,  and  sells  the  rest. 
Then,  in  order  to  sustain  life  until  the  next  harvest, 
he  mixes  birch-bark  and  tares  with  his  flour  for  three 
months,  if  it  has  been  a  good  year,  and  for  six  if  it 
has  been  bad,  while  in  London  they  are  eating 
biscuits  made  of  his  wheat. 

But  as  soon  as  the  Revolution  comes,  the  Russian 
peasant  will  keep  bread  enough  for  himself  and  his 
children;  the  Italian  and  Hungarian  peasants  will 
do  the  same ;  and  the  Hindoo,  let  us  hope,  will  profit 
by  these  good  examples ;  and  the  farmers  of  America 
will  hardly  be  able  to  cover  all  the  deficit  in  grain 
which  Europe  will  experience.  So  it  will  not  do  to 
coimt  on  their  contributions  of  wheat  and  maize 
satisfying  all  the  wants. 

Since  all  our  middle-class  civilization  is  based  on 
the  exploitation  of  inferior  races  and  countries  with 
less  advanced  industrial  systems,  the  Revolution 
will  confer  a  boon  at  the  very  outset,  by  menacing 
that  "civilization,"  and  allowing  the  so-called 
inferior  races  to  free  themselves. 

But  this  great  benefit  will  manifest  itself  by  a 
steady  and  marked  diminution  of  the  food  supplies 
pouring  into  the  great  cities  of  western  Europe. 

It  is  difficult  to  predict  the  course  of  affairs  in 
the  provinces.     On  the  one  hand  the  slave  of  the 


90.  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

soil  will  take  advantage  of  the  Revolution  to 
straighten  his  bowed  back.  Instead  of  working 
fourteen  or  fifteen  hours  a  day,  as  he  does  at  present, 
he  will  be  at  liberty  to  work  only  half  that  time, 
which  of  course  would  have  the  effect  of  decreasing 
the  production  of  the  principal  articles  of  consump- 
tion —  grain  and  meat. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  will  be  an  increase 
of  production  as  soon  as  the  peasant  realizes  that 
he  is  no  longer  forced  to  support  the  idle  rich  by 
his  toil.  New  tracts  of  land  will  be  cleared,  new 
and  improved  machines  set  a-going. 

"Never  was  the  land  so  energetically  cultivated 
as  in  1792,  when  the  peasant  had  taken  back  from 
the  landlord  the  soil  which  he  had  coveted  so  long," 
Michelet  tells  us,  speaking  of  the  Great  Revolution. 

Before  long,  intensive  culture  would  be  within 
the  reach  of  all.  Improved  machinery,  chemical 
manures,  and  all  such  matters  would  be  common 
property.  But  everything  tends  to  indicate  that 
at  the  outset  there  would  be  a  falling  off  in  agri- 
cultural products,  in  France  as  elsewhere. 

In  any  case  it  would  be  wisest  to  count  upon 
such  a  falling  off  of  contributions  from  the  provinces 
as  well  as  from  abroad. 

And  how  is  this  falling  off  to  be  made  good  ?  Why, 
in  heaven's  name,  by  setting  to  work  ourselves! 
No  need  to  rack  our  brains  for  far-fetched  panaceas 
when  the  remedy  lies  close  at  hand ! 

The  large  towns  must  undertake  to  till  the  soil, 
like  the  country  districts.  We  must  return  to  what 
biology  calls  "the  integration  of  functions"  —  after 


Food  93 

the  division  of  labour  the  taking  up  of  it  as  a  whole 
—  this  is  the  course  followed  throughout  Nature. 

Besides,  philosophy  apart,  the  force  of  circum- 
stances would  bring  about  this  result.  Let  Paris 
see  that  at  the  end  of  eight  months  it  will  be 
running  short  of  bread,  and  Paris  will  set  to  work 
to  grow  wheat. 

"What  about  land?"  It  will  not  be  wanting, 
for  it  is  round  the  great  towns,  and  round  Paris 
especially,  that  the  parks  and  pleasure  grounds  of 
the  landed  gentry  are  to  be  found.  These  thou- 
sands of  acres  only  await  the  skilled  labour  of  the 
husbandman  to  surround  Paris  with  fields  infinitely 
more  fertile  and  productive  than  the  steppes  of 
southern  Russia,  where  the  soil  is  dried  up  by  the 
Sim.  Nor  will  labour  be  lacking.  To  what  should 
the  two  million  citizens  of  Paris  turn  their  attention 
when  they  would  be  no  longer  catering  for  the 
luxurious  fads  and  amusements  of  Russian  princes, 
Roumanian  grandees,  and  wives  of  Berlin  financiers  ? 

With  all  the  mechanical  inventions  of  the  cen- 
tury ;  with  all  the  intelligence  and  technical  skill  of 
the  worker  accustomed  to  deal  with  complicated 
machinery;  with  inventors,  chemists,  professors 
of  botany,  practical  botanists  Uke  the  market  gar- 
deners of  Gennevilliers ;  with  all  the  plant  that  they 
could  use  for  multiplying  and  improving  machinery ; 
and,  finally,  with  the  organizing  spirit  of  the  Parisian 
people,  their  pluck  and  energy  —  with  all  these  at 
its  command,  the  agriculture  of  the  anarchist  Com- 
mune of  Paris  would  be  a  very  different  thing  from 
the  rude  husbandry  of  the  Ardennes. 


94  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

Steam,  electricity,  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  the 
breath  of  the  wind,  will  ere  long  be  pressed  into  ser- 
vice. The  steam  harrow  and  the  steam  plough  will 
quickly  do  the  rough  work  of  preparation,  and  the 
soil,  thus  cleaned  and  enriched,  will  only  need  the 
intelligent  care  of  man,  and  of  woman  even  more 
than  man,  to  be  clothed  with  luxuriant  vegetation  — 
not  once  but  three  or  four  times  in  the  year. 

Thus,  learning  the  art  of  horticulture  from 
experts,  and  trying  experiments  in  different 
methods  on  small  patches  of  soil  reserved  for  the 
purpose,  V3dng  with  each  other  to  obtain  the  best 
returns,  finding  in  physical  exercise,  without  exhaus- 
tion or  overwork,  the  health  and  strength  which  so 
often  flags  in  cities,  —  men,  women,  and  children 
will  gladly  turn  to  the  labour  of  the  fields,  when  it 
is  no  longer  a  slavish  drudgery,  but  has  become  a 
pleasure,  a  festival,  a  renewal  of  health  and  joy. 

"There  are  no  barren  lands;  the  earth  is  worth 
what  man  is  worth" — that  is  the  last  word  of 
modem  agriculture.  Ask  of  the  earth  and  she  will 
give  you  bread,  provided  that  you  ask  aright. 

A  district,  though  it  were  as  small  as  the  depart- 
ments of  the  Seine  and  the  Seine-et-Oise,  and  with 
so  great  a  city  as  Paris  to  feed,  would  be  practically 
sufficient  to  grow  upon  it  all  the  food  supplies,  which 
otherwise  might  fail  to  reach  it. 

The  combination  of  agriculture  and  industry, 
the  husbandman  and  the  mechanic  in  the  same 
individual  —  this  is  what  anarchist  communism 
will  inevitably  lead  us  to,  if  it  starts  fair  with 
expropriation. 


Food  95 

Let  the  Revolution  only  get  so  far,  and  famine 
is  not  the  enemy  it  will  have  to  fear.  No,  the 
danger  which  will  menace  it  lies  in  timidity, 
prejudice,  and  hall  -measures.  The  danger  is  where 
Danton  saw  it  when  he  cried  to  France:  "Dare, 
dare,  and  yet  again,  dare!"  The  bold  thought  first, 
and  the  bold  deed  will  not  fail  to  follow. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Dwellings 

I 

Those  who  have  closely  watched  the  growth  of 
certain  ideas  among  the  workers  must  have  noticed 
that  on  one  momentous  question  —  the  housing  of 
the  people,  namely  —  a  definite  conclusion  is  being 
imperceptibly  arrived  at.  It  is  a  known  fact  that 
in  the  large  towns  of  France,  and  in  many  of  the 
smaller  ones  also,  the  workers  are  coming  gradually 
to  the  conclusion  that  dwelling-houses  are  in  no 
sense  the  property  of  those  whom  the  State 
recognizes  as  their  owners. 

This  idea  has  evolved  naturally  in  the  minds  of 
the  people,  and  nothing  will  ever  convince  them 
again  that  the  "rights  of  property"  ought  to  extend 
to  houses. 

The  house  was  not  built  by  its  owner.  It  was 
erected,  decorated,  and  furnished  by  innumerable 
workers  — in  the  timber  yard,  the  brick  field,  and 
the  workshop,  toiling  for  dear  life  at  a  minimum 
wage. 

The  money  spent  by  the  owner  was  not  the  pro- 
duct of  his  own  toil.  It  was  amassed,  like  all  other 
riches,  by  paying  the  workers  two-thirds  or  only  a 
half  of  what  was  their  due. 

Moreover  —  and  it  is  here  that  the  enormity  of 

96 


Dwellings  97 

the  whole  proceeding  becomes  most  glaring  —  the 
house  owes  its  actual  value  to  the  profit  which  the 
owner  can  make  out  of  it.  Now,  this  profit  results 
from  the  fact  that  his  house  is  built  in  a  town  pos- 
sessing bridges,  quays,  and  fine  public  buildings, 
and  affording  to  its  inhabitants  a  thousand  comforts 
and  conveniences  unknown  in  villages;  a  town  well 
paved,  lighted  with  gas,  in  regular  communication 
with  other  towns,  and  itself  a  centre  of  industry, 
commerce,  science,  and  art;  a  town  which  the  work 
of  twenty  or  thirty  generations  has  gone  to  render 
habitable,  healthy,  and  beautiful. 

A  house  in  certain  parts  of  Paris  may  be  valued 
at  thousands  of  pounds  sterling,  not  because 
thousands  of  pounds'  worth  of  labour  have  been 
expended  on  that  particular  house,  but  because 
it  is  in  Paris ;  because  for  centuries  workmen,  artists, 
thinkers,  and  men  of  learning  and  letters  have  con- 
tributed to  make  Paris  what  it  is  to-day  —  a  centre 
of  industry,  commerce,  politics,  art,  and  science; 
because  Paris  has  a  past;  because,  thanks  to  litera- 
tiu'e,  the  names  of  its  streets  are  household  words 
in  foreign  countries  as  well  as  at  home;  because  it 
is  the  fruit  of  eighteen  centuries  of  toil,  the  work  of 
fifty  generations  of  the  whole  French  nation. 

Who,  then,  can  appropriate  to  himself  the  tiniest 
plot  of  ground,  or  the  meanest  building,  without 
committing  a  flagrant  injustice?  Who,  then,  ha§ 
the  right  to  sell  to  any  bidder  the  smallest  portion 
of  the  common  heritage  ? 

On  that  point,  as  we  have  said,  the  workers  are 
agreed.     The    idea    of    free    dwellings    showed    its 


98  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

existence  very  plainly  during  the  siege  of  Paris, 
when  the  cry  was  for  an  abatement  pure  and  simple 
of  the  terms  demanded  by  the  landlords.  It  ap- 
peared again  during  the  Commune  of  1871,  when 
the  Paris  workmen  expected  the  Communal  Council 
to  decide  boldly  on  the  abolition  of  rent.  And 
when  the  New  Revolution  comes,  it  will  be  the 
first  question  with  which  the  poor  will  concern 
themselves. 

Whether  in  time  of  revolution  or  in  time  of  peace, 
the  worker  must  be  housed  somehow  or  other;  he 
must  have  some  sort  of  roof  over  his  head.  But, 
however  tumble-down  and  squalid  your  dwelling 
may  be,  there  is  always  a  landlord  who  can  evict 
you.  True,  during  the  Revolution  he  cannot  find 
bailiffs  and  police-serjeants  to  throw  your  rags  and 
chattels  into  the  street,  but  who  knows  what  the 
new  Government  will  do  to-morrow?  Who  can  say 
that  it  will  not  call  in  the  aid  of  force  again,  and  set 
the  police  pack  upon  you  to  hound  you  out  of  your 
hovels?  We  have  seen  the  Commune  proclaim  the 
remission  of  rents  due  up  to  the  first  of  April  only !  * 
After  that  rent  had  to  be  paid,  though  Paris  was 
in  a  state  of  chaos,  and  industry  at  a  standstill; 
so  that  the  revolutionist  had  absolutely  nothing  to 
depend  upon  but  his  allowance  of  fifteen  pence  a 
day! 

Now  the  worker  must  be  made  to  see  clearly  that 
in  refusing  to  pay  rent  to  a  landlord  or  owner  he 

*  The  decree  of  the  30  March:  by  this  decree  rents  due  up  to 
the  terms  of  October,  1870,  and  January  and  April,  187 1,  were 
annulled. 


Dwellings  99 

is  not  simply  profiting  by  the  disorganization  of 
authority.  He  must  understand  that  the  abolition 
of  rent  is  a  recognized  principle,  sanctioned,  so  to 
speak,  by  popular  assent ;  that  to  be  housed  rent-free 
is  a  right  proclaimed  aloud  by  the  people. 

Are  we  going  to  wait  till  this  measure,  which  is  in 
harmony  with  every  honest  man's  sense  of  justice, 
is  taken  up  by  the  few  socialists  scattered  among 
the  middle-class  elements,  of  which  the  Provi- 
sionary  Government  will  be  composed  ?  We  should 
have  to  wait  long  —  till  the  return  of  reaction,  in 
factl 

This  is  why,  refusing  uniforms  and  badges  — 
those  outward  signs  of  authority  and  servitude  — 
and  remaining  people  among  the  people,  the 
earnest  revolutionists  will  work  side  by  side  with 
the  masses,  that  the  abolition  of  rent,  the  expro- 
priation of  houses,  may  become  an  accomplished 
fact.  They  will  prepare  the  ground  and  encourage 
ideas  to  grow  in  this  direction;  and  when  the  fruit 
of  their  labours  is  ripe,  the  people  will  proceed  to 
expropriate  the  houses  without  giving  heed  to  the 
theories  which  will  certainly  be  thrust  in  their  way 
—  theories  about  paying  compensation  to  landlords, 
and  finding  first  the  necessary  funds. 

On  the  day  that  the  expropriation  of  houses  takes 
place,  on  that  day,  the  exploited  workers  will  have 
reaHzed  that  the  new  times  have  come,  that  Labour 
will  no  longer  have  to  bear  the  yoke  of  the  rich  and 
powerful,  that  Equality  has  been  openly  proclaimed, 
that  this  Revolution  is  a  real  fact,  and  not  a  thea- 
trical make-believe,  like  so  many  others  preceding  it. 


loo  The  Conquest  of  Bread 


II 

If  the  idea  of  expropriation  be  adopted  by  the 
people  it  will  be  carried  into  effect  in  spite  of  all  the 
"insurmountable"  obstacles  with  which  we  are 
menaced. 

Of  course,  the  good  folk  in  new  uniforms,  seated 
in  the  official  arm-chairs  of  the  H6tel  de  Ville,  will 
be  sure  to  busy  themselves  in  heaping  up  obstacles. 
They  will  talk  of  giving  compensation  to  the  land- 
lords, of  preparing  statistics,  and  drawing  up  long 
reports.  Yes,  they  would  be  capable  of  drawing 
up  reports  long  enough  to  outlast  the  hopes  of  the 
people,  who,  after  waiting  and  starving  in  enforced 
idleness,  and  seeing  nothing  come  of  all  these  official 
researches,  would  lose  heart  and  faith  in  the  Revo- 
lution and  abandon  the  field  to  the  reactionaries. 
The  new  bureaucracy  would  end  by  making  expro- 
priation hateful  in  the  eyes  of  all. 

Here,  indeed,  is  a  rock  which  might  shipwreck 
our  hopes.  But  if  the  people  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  specious  arguments  used  to  dazzle  them,  and 
realize  that  new  life  needs  new  conditions,  and  if 
they  imdertake  the  task  themselves,  then  expropria- 
tion can  be  effected  without  any  great  difficulty. 

"But  how?  How  can  it  be  done?"  you  ask  us. 
We  shall  try  to  reply  to  this  question,  but  with  a 
reservation.  We  have  no  intention  of  tracing  out 
the  plans  of  expropriation  in  their  smallest  details. 
We  know  beforehand  that  all  that  any  man,  or 
group  of  men,  could  suggest  to-day  would  be  far 


Dwellings  loi 

surpassed  by  the  reality  when  it  comes.  Man  will 
accomplish  greater  things,  and  accomplish  them 
better  and  by  simpler  methods  than  those  dictated 
to  him  beforehand.  Thus  we  are  content  to  indicate 
the  manner  by  which  expropriation  might  be  accom- 
plished without  the  intervention  of  Government. 
We  do  not  propose  to  go  out  of  our  way  to  answer 
those  who  declare  that  the  thing  is  impossible.  We 
confine  ourselves  to  replying  that  we  are  not  the 
upholders  of  any  particular  method  of  organization. 
We  are  only  concerned  to  demonstrate  that  expro- 
priation could  be  effected  by  popular  initiative, 
and  could  not  be  effected  by  any  other  means 
whatever. 

It  seems  very  likely  that,  as  soon  as  expropriation 
is  fairly  started,  groups  of  volunteers  will  spring 
up  in  every  district,  street,  and  block  of  houses, 
and  undertake  to  inquire  into  the  number  of  flats 
and  houses  which  are  empty  and  of  those  which  are 
overcrowded,  the  unwholesome  slums  and  the  houses 
which  are  too  spacious  for  their  occupants  and  might 
well  be  used  to  house  those  who  are  stifled  in  swarm- 
ing tenements  In  a  few  days  these  volunteers 
would  have  drawn  up  complete  lists  for  the  street 
and  the  district  of  all  the  flats,  tenements,  family 
mansions  and  villa  residences,  all  the  rooms  and 
suites  of  rooms,  healthy  and  unhealthy,  small  and 
large,  fnetid  dens  and  homes  of  luxury. 

Freely  commtmicating  with  each  other,  these 
volunteers  would  soon  have  their  statistics  com- 
plete. False  statistics  can  be  manufactured  m 
board    rooms    and    offices,    but    true    and    exact 


I02  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

statistics  must  begin  with  the  individual  and  mount 
up  from  the  simple  to  the  complex. 

Then,  without  waiting  for  any  one's  leave,  those 
citizens  will  probably  go  and  find  their  comrades 
who  were  living  in  miserable  garrets  and  hovels  and 
mil  say  to  them  simply:  "It  is  a  real  Revolution 
this  time,  comrades,  and  no  mistake  about  it.  Come 
to  such  a  place  this  evening;  all  the  neighbourhood 
vnll  be  there ;  we  are  going  to  redistribute  the  dwell- 
ing-houses. If  you  are  tired  of  your  slum-garret, 
come  and  choose  one  of  the  flats  of  five  rooms  that 
are  to  be  disposed  of,  and  when  you  have  once  moved 
in  you  shall  stay,  never  fear.  The  people  are  up 
in  arms,  and  he  who  would  venture  to  evict  you  will 
have  to  answer  to  them." 

"But  every  one  will  want  a  fine  house  or  a 
spacious  flat!"  we  are  told.  No,  you  are  mis- 
taken. It  is  not  the  people's  way  to  clamour  for 
the  moon.  On  the  contrary,  every  time  we  have 
seen  them  set  about  repairing  a  wrong  we  have 
been  struck  by  the  good  sense  and  instinct  for  jus- 
tice which  animates  the  masses.  Have  we  ever 
known  them  demand  the  impossible?  Have  we 
ever  seen  the  people  of  Paris  fighting  among  them- 
selves while  waiting  for  their  rations  of  bread  or 
firewood  during  the  two  sieges?  The  patience  and 
resignation  which  prevailed  among  them  was  con- 
stantly held  up  to  admiration  by  the  foreign  press 
correspondents;  and  yet  these  patient  waiters  knew 
full  well  that  the  last  comers  would  have  to  pass 
the  day  without  food  or  fire. 

We  do  not  deny  that  there  are  plenty  of  egotistic 


Dwellings  103 

instincts  in  isolated  individuals  in  our  societies.  We 
are  quite  aware  of  it.  But  we  contend  that  the 
very  way  to  revive  and  nourish  these  instincts 
would  be  to  confine  such  questions  as  the  housing 
of  the  people  to  any  board  or  committee,  in  fact, 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  officialism  in  any  shape 
or  form.  Then  indeed  all  the  evil  passions  spring  up, 
and  it  becomes  a  case  of  who  is  the  most  influential 
person  on  the  board.  The  least  inequality  causes 
wranglings  and  recriminations.  If  the  smallest 
advantage  is  given  to  any  one,  a  tremendous  hue 
and  cry  is  raised  —  and  not  without  reason. 

But  if  the  people  themsevles,  organized  by 
streets,  districts,  and  parishes,  undertake  to  move 
the  inhabitants  of  the  slums  into  the  half-empty 
dwellings  of  the  middle  classes,  the  trifling  incon- 
veniences, the  little  inequalities  will  be  easily  tided 
over.  Rarely  has  appeal  been  made  to  the  good 
instincts  of  the  masses  —  only  as  a  last  resort,  to 
save  the  sinking  ship  in  times  of  revolution  —  but 
never  has  such  an  appeal  been  made  in  vain;  the 
heroism,  the  self-devotion  of  the  toiler  has  never 
failed  to  respond  to  it.  And  thus  it  will  be  in  the 
coming  Revolution. 

But,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  some  inequalities, 
some  inevitable  injustices,  will  remain.  There  are 
individuals  in  our  societies  whom  no  great  crisis 
can  lift  out  of  the  deep  ruts  of  egoism  in  which  they 
are  sunk.  The  question,  however,  is  not  whether 
there  will  be  injustices  or  no,  but  rather  how  to  Hmit 
the  number  of  them. 

Now  all  history,  all  the  experience  of  the  human 


I04  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

race,  and  all  social  psychology,  unite  in  showing 
that  the  best  and  fairest  way  is  to  trust  the  decision 
to  those  whom  it  concerns  most  nearly.  It  is  they 
alone  who  can  consider  and  allow  for  the  hundred 
and  one  details  which  must  necessarily  be  overlooked 
in  ai\y  merely  official  redistribution. 


Ill 

Moreover,  it  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  make 
straightway  an  absolutely  equal  redistribution  of 
all  the  dwellings.  There  will  no  doubt  be  some 
inconveniences  at  first,  but  matters  will  soon  be 
righted  in  a  society  which  has  adopted  expropria- 
tion. 

When  the  masons,  and  carpenters,  and  all  who 
are  concerned  in  house  building,  know  that  their 
daily  bread  is  secured  to  them,  they  will  ask  nothing 
better  than  to  work  at  their  old  trades  a  few  hours 
a  day.  They  will  adapt  the  fine  houses  which 
absorbed  the  time  of  a  whole  staff  of  servants, 
and  in  a  few  months  homes  will  have  sprung  up, 
infinitely  healthier  and  more  conveniently  arranged 
than  those  of  to-day.  And  to  those  who  are  not 
yet  comfortably  housed  the  anarchist  Commune 
will  be  able  to  say:  "Patience,  comrades!  Palaces 
fairer  and  finer  than  any  the  capitalists  built  for 
themselves  will  spring  from  the  ground  of  our  en- 
franchised city.  They  will  belong  to  those  who 
have  most  need  of  them.  The  anarchist  Commune 
does  not  build  with  an  eye  to  revenues.  These 
monuments  erected  to  its  citizens,  products  of  the 


Dwellings  105 

collective  spirit,  will  serve  as  models  to  all  human- 
ity ;  they  will  be  yours." 

If  the  people  of  the  Revolution  expropriate  the 
houses  and  proclaim  free  lodgings  —  the  communal- 
izing  of  houses  and  the  right  of  each  family  to  a 
decent  dwelling  —  then  the  Revolution  will  have 
assumed  a  communistic  character  from  the  first, 
and  started  on  a  course  from  which  it  will  be  by 
no  means  easy  to  turn  it.  It  w;ll  have  struck  a 
fatal  blow  at  individual  property. 

For  the  expropriation  of  dwellings  contains  in 
germ  the  whole  social  revolution.  On  the  manner 
of  its  accomplishment  depends  the  character  of 
all  that  follows.  Either  we  shall  start  on  a  good 
road  leading  straight  to  anarchist  communism,  or 
we  shall  remain  sticking  in  the  mud  of  despotic 
individualism. 

It  is  easy  to  see  the  numerous  objections  — 
theoretic  on  the  one  hand,  practical  on  the  other 
—  with  which  we  are  sure  to  be  met.  As  it  will 
be  a  question  of  maintaining  iniquity  at  any  price, 
our  opponents  will  of  course  protest  "in  the  name 
of  justice."  "Is  it  not  a  crying  shame,"  they  will 
exclaim,  "that  the  people  of  Paris  should  take 
possession  of  all  these  fine  houses,  while  the  peasants 
in  the  country  have  only  tumble-down  huts  to  Hve 
in?"  But  do  net  let  us  make  a  mistake.  These 
enthusiasts  for  justice  forget,  by  a  lapse  of  memory 
to  which  they  are  subject,  the  "crying  shame" 
which  they  themselves  are  tacitly  defending.  They 
forget  that  in  this  same  city  the  worker,  with  his 
wife  and  children,  suffocates  in  a  noisome  garret, 


io6  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

while  from  his  window  he  sees  the  rich  man's  palace. 
They  forget  that  whole  generations  perish  in  crowded 
slums,  starving  for  air  and  sunlight,  and  that  to 
redress  this  injustice  ought  to  be  the  first  task  of 
the  Revolution. 

Do  not  let  these  disingenuous  protests  hold  us 
back.  We  know  that  any  inequality  which  may 
exist  between  town  and  country  in  the  early  days 
of  the  Revolution  will  be  transitory  and  of  a  nature 
to  right  itself  from  day  to  day;  for  the  village  will 
not  fail  to  improve  its  dwellings  as  soon  as  the 
peasant  has  ceased  to  be  the  beast  of  burden  of  the 
farmer,  the  merchant,  the  money-lender,  and  the 
State.  In  order  to  avoid  an  accidental  and  transi- 
tory inequality,  shall  we  stay  our  hand  from  righting 
an  ancient  wrong? 

The  so-called  practical  objections  are  not  very 
formidable  either.  We  are  bidden  to  consider 
the  hard  case  of  some  poor  fellow  who  by  dint  of 
privation  has  contrived  to  buy  a  house  just  large 
enough  to  hold  his  family.  And  we  are  going 
to  deprive  him  of  his  hard-earned  happiness,  to 
turn  him  into  the  street!  Certainly  not.  If  his 
house  is  only  just  large  enough  for  his  family, 
by  all  means  let  him  stay  there.  Let  him  work 
in  his  little  garden  too;  our  "boys"  will  not 
hinder  him  —  nay,  they  will  lend  him  a  helping 
hand  if  need  be.  But  suppose  he  lets  lodgings, 
suppose  he  has  empty  rooms  in  his  house;  then 
the  people  will  make  the  lodger  tmderstand 
that  he  need  not  pay  his  former  landlord  any 
more   rent.     Stay  where   you   are,   but   rent  free. 


Dwellings  107 

No  more  duns  and  collectors ;  SociaHsm  has  abolished 
all  that! 

Or  again,  suppose  that  the  landlord  has  a  score 
of  rooms  aU  to  himself,  and  some  poor  woman  Hves 
near  by  with  five  children  in  one  room.  In  that 
case  the  people  would  see  whether,  with  some  altera- 
tions, these  empty  rooms  could  not  be  converted 
into  a  suitable  home  for  the  poor  woman  and  her 
five  children.  Would  not  that  be  more  just  and 
fair  than  to  leave  the  mother  and  her  five  little 
ones  languishing  in  a  garret,  while  Sir  Gorgeous 
Midas  sat  at  his  ease  in  an  empty  mansion  ?  Besides, 
good  Sir  Gorgeous  would  probably  hasten  to  do  it 
of  his  own  accord;  his  wife  wiU  be  deUghted  to  be 
freed  from  half  her  big,  unwieldy  house  when  there 
is  no  longer  a  staff  of  servants  to  keep  it  in  order. 

"  So  you  are  going  to  turn  everything  upside  down." 
say  the  defenders  of  law  and  order.  "There  will 
be  no  end  to  the  evictions  and  removals.  Would 
it  not  be  better  to  start  fresh  by  turning  everybody 
out  of  doors  and  redistributing  the  houses  by  lot?" 
Thus  our  critics;  but  we  are  firmly  persuaded  that 
if  no  Government  interferes  in  the  matter,  if  all  the 
changes  are  entrusted  to  those  free  groups  which 
have  sprung  up  to  undertake  the  work,  the  evictions 
and  removals  will  be  less  numerous  than  those  which 
+ake  place  in  one  year  under  the  present  system, 
owing  to  the  rapacity  of  landlords. 

In  the  first  place,  there  are  in  all  large  towns 
almost  enough  empty  houses  and  flats  to  lodge  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  slums.  As  to  the  palaces 
and    suites    of    fine    apartments,    many    working 


io8  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

people  would  not  live  in  them  if  they  could.  One 
could  not  "keep  up"  such  houses  without  a  large 
staff  of  servants.  Their  occupants  would  soon 
find  themselves  forced  to  seek  less  luxurious 
dwellings.  The  fine  ladies  would  find  that  palaces 
were  not  well  adapted  to  self-help  in  the  kitchen. 
Gradually  people  would  shake  down.  There  would 
be  no  need  to  conduct  Dives  to  a  garret  at  the 
bayonet's  point,  or  install  Lazarus  in  Dives's 
palace  by  the  help  of  an  armed  escort.  People 
would  shake  down  amicably  into  the  available 
dwellings  with  the  least  possible  friction  and  dis- 
turbance. Have  we  not  the  example  of  the  village 
communes  redistributing  fields  and  disturbing  the 
owners  of  the  allotments  so  little  that  one  can  only 
praise  the  intelligence  and  good  sense  of  the  methods 
they  employ.  Fewer  fields  change  hands  under 
the  management  of  the  Russian  Commune  than 
where  personal  property  holds  sway,  and  is  for 
ever  carrying  its  quarrels  into  courts  of  law.  And 
are  we  to  believe  that  the  inhabitants  of  a  great 
European  city  would  be  less  intelligent  and  less 
capable  of  organization  than  Russian  or  j^Hindoo 
peasants? 

Moreover,  we  must  not  blink  the  fact  that  every 
revolution  means  a  certain  disturbance  to  everyday 
life,  and  those  who  expect  this  tremendous  lift  out 
of  the  old  grooves  to  be  accomplished  without  so 
much  as  jarring  the  dishes  on  their  dinner  tables 
will  find  themselves  mistaken.  It  is  true  that 
Governments  can  change  without  disturbing  worthy 
citizens  at  dinner,  but  the  crimes  of  society  towards 


Dwellings  109 

those  who  have  nourished  and  supported  it  are  not 
to  be  redressed  by  any  such  political  sleight  of 
parties. 

Undoubtedly  there  will  be  a  disturbance,  but 
it  must  not  be  of  pure  destruction ;  it  must  be  mini- 
mized. And  again  —  it  is  impossible  to  lay  too 
much  stress  on  this  maxim  —  it  will  be  by  addressing 
ourselves  to  the  interested  parties,  and  not  to  boards 
and  committees,  that  we  shall  best  succeed  in 
reducing  the  sum  of  inconveniences  for  everybody. 

The  people  commit  blunder  on  blunder  when 
they  have  to  choose  by  ballot  some  hare-brained 
candidate  who  solicits  the  honour  of  representing 
them,  and  takes  upon  himself  to  know  all,  to  do  all, 
and  to  organize  all.  But  when  they  take  upon 
themselves  to  organize  what  they  know,  what 
touches  them  directly,  they  do  it  better  than  all 
the  "talking-shops"  put  together.  Is  not  the  Paris 
Commune  an  instance  in  point?  and  the  great 
dockers'  strike  ?  and  have  we  not  constant  evidence 
of  this  fact  in  every  village  commune? 


CHAPTER  VII 
Clothing 

When  the  houses  have  become  the  common 
heritage  of  the  citizens,  and  when  each  man  has  his 
daily  supply  of  food,  another  forward  step  will  have 
to  be  taken.  The  question  of  clothing  will  of  course 
demand  consideration  next,  and  again  the  only 
possible  solution  will  be  to  take  possession,  in  the 
name  of  the  people,  of  all  the  shops  and  warehouses 
where  clothing  is  sold  or  stored,  and  to  throw  open 
the  doors  to  all,  so  that  each  can  take  what  he  needs. 
The  communalization  of  clothing  —  the  right  of 
each  to  take  what  he  needs  from  the  communal 
stores,  or  to  have  it  made  for  him  at  the  tailors  and 
outfitters  —  is  a  necessary  corollary  of  the  com- 
munalization of  houses  and  food. 

Obviously  we  shall  not  need  for  that  to  despoil 
all  citizens  of  their  coats,  to  put  all  the  garments 
in  a  heap  and  draw  lots  for  them,  as  our  critics, 
with  equal  wit  and  ingenuity,  suggest.  Let  him 
who  has  a  coat  keep  it  still  —  nay,  if  he  have  ten 
coats  it  is  highly  improbable  that  any  one  will  want 
to  deprive  him  of  them,  for  most  folk  would  prefer 
a  new  coat  to  one  that  has  already  graced  the 
shoulders  of  some  fat  bourgeois;  and  there  will  be 
enough  new  garments  and  to  spare,  without  having 
recourse  to  second-hand  wardrobes. 


Clothing  1 1 1 

If  we  were  to  take  an  inventory  of  all  the  clothes 
and  stuff  for  clothing  accumulated  in  the  shops  and 
stores  of  the  large  towns,  we  should  find  probably 
that  in  Paris,  Lyons,  Bordeaux,  and  Marseilles, 
there  was  enough  to  enable  the  commune  to  offer 
garments  to  all  the  citizens,  of  both  sexes;  and  if 
all  were  not  suited  at  once,  the  communal  outfitters 
would  soon  make  good  the^e  shortcomings.  We 
know  how  rapidly  our  great  tailoring  and  dress- 
making establishments  work  nowadays,  provided 
as  they  are  with  machinery  specially  adapted  for 
production  on  a  large  scale. 

"  But  every  one  will  want  a  sable-lined  coat  or 
a  velvet  gown!"  exclaim  our  adversaries. 

Frankly,  we  do  not  believe  it.  Every  woman 
does  not  dote  on  velvet,  nor  does  every  man 
dream  of  sable  linings.  Even  now,  if  we  were  to 
ask  each  woman  to  choose  her  gown,  we  should  find 
some  to  prefer  a  simple,  practical  garment  to  all 
the  fantastic  trimmings  the  fashionable  world  affects. 

Tastes  change  with  the  times,  and  the  fashion 
in  vogue  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  will  certainly 
make  for  simplicity.  Societies,  like  individuals, 
have  their  hours  of  cowardice,  but  also  their  heroic 
moments;  and  though  the  society  of  to-day  cuts 
a  very  poor  figure  sunk  in  the  pursuit  of  narrow 
personal  interests  and  second-rate  ideas,  it  wears  a 
different  air  when  great  crises  come.  It  has  its 
moments  of  greatness  and  enthusiasm.  Men  of 
generous  nature  will  gain  the  power  which  to-day 
is  in  the  hand  of  jobbers.  Self-devotion  will  sprifig 
up,  and   noble  deeds    beget  their   like;   even  the 


112  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

egotists  will  be  ashamed  of  hanging  back,  and  will 
be  drawn  in  spite  of  themselves  to  admire,  if  not 
to  imitate,  the  generous  and  brave. 

The  great  Revolution  of  1793  abounds  in  examples 
of  this  kind,  and  it  is  ever  during  such  times 
of  spiritual  revival  —  as  natural  to  societies  as  to 
individuals  —  that  the  spring-tide  of  enthusiasm 
sweeps  humanity  onwards. 

We  do  not  wish  to  exaggerate  the  part  played  by 
such  noble  passions,  nor  is  it  upon  them  that  we 
would  found  our  ideal  of  society.  But  we  are  not 
asking  too  much  if  we  expect  their  aid  in  tiding  over 
the  first  and  most  difficult  moments.  We  cannot 
hope  that  our  daily  life  will  be  continuously  inspired 
by  such  exalted  enthusiasms,  but  we  may  expect 
their  aid  at  the  first,  and  that  is  all  we  need. 

It  is  just  to  wash  the  earth  clean,  to  sweep  away 
the  shards  and  refuse,  accumulated  by  centuries 
of  slavery  and  oppression,  that  the  new  anarchist 
society  will  have  need  of  this  wave  of  brotherly 
love.  Later  on  it  can  exist  without  appealing  to 
the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  because  it  will  have 
eliminated  oppression,  and  thus  created  a  new 
world  instinct  with  all  the  feelings  of  solidarity. 

Besides,  should  the  character  of  the  Revolution 
be  such  as  we  have  sketched  here,  the  free  initiative 
of  individuals  would  find  an  extensive  field  of  action 
in  thwarting  the  efforts  of  the  egotists.  Groups 
would  spring  up  in  every  street  and  quarter  to 
undertake  the  charge  of  the  clothing.  They  would 
make  inventories  of  all  that  the  city  possessed,  and 
would    find    out    approximately    what    were    the 


Clothing  113 

resources  at  their  disposal.  It  is  more  than  likely 
that  in  the  matter  of  clothing  the  citizens  would 
adopt  the  same  principle  as  in  the  matter  of  pro- 
visions —  that  is  to  say,  they  would  offer  freely 
from  the  common  store  everything  which  was  to 
be  found  in  abundance,  and  dole  out  whatever  was 
limited  in  quantity. 

Not  being  able  to  offer  to  each  man  a  sable-lined 
coat,  and  to  every  woman  a  velvet  gown,  society 
would  probably  distinguish  between  the  superfluous 
and  the  necessary,  and,  provisionally,  at  least,  class 
sable  and  velvet  among  the  superfluities  of  life, 
ready  to  let  time  prove  whether  what  is  a  luxury 
to-day  may  not  become  common  to  all  to-morrow. 
While  the  necessary  clothing  would  be  guaranteed 
to  each  inhabitant  of  the  anarchist  city,  it  would 
be  left  to  private  activity  to  provide  for  the  sick  and 
feeble  those  things,  provisionally  considered  as 
luxuries,  and  to  procure  for  the  less  robust  such 
special  articles,  as  would  not  enter  into  the  daily 
consumption  of  ordinary  citizens. 

"But,"  it  may  be  urged,  "this  grey  uniformity 
means  the  end  of  everything  beautiful  in  life  and 
art." 

"Certainly  not!"  we  reply;  and  we  still  base  our 
opinion  on  what  already  exists.  We  propose  to 
show  presently  how  an  Anarchist  society  could 
satisfy  the  most  artistic  tastes  of  its  citizens  without 
allowing  them  to  amass  the  fortunes  of  millionaires. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
Ways  and  Means 


If  a  society,  a  city,  or  a  territory,  were  to  guaran- 
tee the  necessaries  of  life  to  its  inhabitants  (and  we 
shall  see  how  the  conception  of  the  necessaries  of 
life  can  be  so  extended  as  to  include  luxuries),  it 
would  be  compelled  to  take  possession  of  what  is 
absolutely  needed  for  production ;  that  is  to  say  — 
land,  machinery,  factories,  means  of  transport,  etc. 
Capital  in  the  hands  of  private  owners  would  be 
expropriated  and  returned  to  the  community. 

The  great  harm  done  by  bourgeois  society,  as 
we  have  already  mentioned,  is  not  only  that 
capitalists  seize  a  large  share  of  the  profits  of 
each  industrial  and  commercial  enterprise,  thus 
enabling  them  to  live  without  working,  but  that 
all  production  has  taken  a  wrong  direction,  as  it 
is  not  carried  on  with  a  view  to  securing  well-being 
to  all.     For  this  reason  we  condemn  it. 

Moreover,  it  is  impossible  to  carry  on  mercantile 
production  in  everybody's  interest.  To  wish  it 
would  be  to  expect  the  capitalist  to  go  beyond  his 
province  and  to  fulfil  duties  that  he  cannot  fulfil 
without  ceasing  to  be  what  he  is  —  a  private  manu- 
facturer seeking  his  own  enrichment.  Capitalist 
organization,  based  on  the  personal  interest  of  each 

"4 


Ways  and  Means  »i5 

individual  trader,  has  given  all  that  could  be 
expected  of  it  to  society  —  it  has  increased  the 
productive  force  of  work.  The  capitalist,  profiting 
by  the  revolution  effected  in  industry  by  steam, 
by  the  sudden  development  of  chemistry  and 
machinery,  and  by  other  inventions  of  our  century, 
has  endeavoured  in  his  own  interest  to  increase 
the  yield  of  work,  and  in  a  great  measure  he  has 
succeeded.  But  to  attribute  other  duties  to  him 
would  be  unreasonable.  For  example,  to  expect 
that  he  should  use  this  superior  yield  of  work  in 
the  interest  of  society  as  a  whole,  would  be  to  ask 
philanthropy  and  charity  of  him,  and  a  capitalist 
enterprise  cannot  be  based  on  charity. 

It  now  remains  for  society  to  extend  this 
greater  productivity,  which  is  limited  to  certain 
industries,  and  to  apply  it  to  the  general  good. 
But  it  is  evident  that  to  guarantee  well-being  to 
all,  society  must  take  back  possession  of  aU  means 
of  production. 

Economists,  as  is  their  wont,  will  not  fail  to 
remind  us  of  the  comparative  well-being  of  a 
certain  category  of  young  robust  workmen,  skilled 
in  certain  special  branches  of  industry.  It  is 
always  this  minority  that  is  pointed  out  to  us 
with  pride.  But  is  this  well-being,  which  is  the 
exclusive  right  of  a  few,  secure?  To-morrow, 
maybe,  negligence,  improvidence,  or  the  greed  of 
their  employers,  will  deprive  these  privileged  men 
of  their  work,  and  they  will  pay  for  the  period  of 
comfort  they  have  enjoyed  with  months  and 
years     of     poverty     or     destitution.     How    many 


ii6  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

important  industries  —  woven  goods,  iron,  sugar, 
etc.  —  without  mentioning  short-lived  trades,  have 
we  not  seen  decline  or  come  to  a  standstill  alter- 
nately on  account  of  speculations,  or  in  consequence 
of  natural  displacement  of  work,  and  lastly  from 
the  effects  of  competition  due  to  capitalists  them 
selves!'  If  the  chief  weaving  and  mechanical  in- 
dustries had  to  pass  through  such  a  crisis  as  they 
have  passed  through  in  1886,  we  hardly  need  men- 
tion the  small  trades,  all  of  which  come  periodically 
to  a  standstill. 

What,  too,  shall  we  say  to  the  price  which  is  paid 
for  the  relative  well-being  of  certain  categories  of 
workmen?  Unfortunately,  it  is  paid  for  by  the 
ruin  of  agriculture,  the  shameless  exploitation  of 
the  peasants,  the  misery  of  the  masses.  In  com- 
parison with  the  feeble  minority  of  workers  who 
enjoy  a  certain  comfort,  how  many  millions  of 
human  beings  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  without 
a  secure  wage,  ready  to  go  wherever  they  are 
wanted;  how  many  peasants  work  fourteen  hours  a 
day  for  a  poor  pittance!  Capital  depopulates  the 
country,  exploits  the  colonies  and  the  countries 
where  industries  are  but  little  developed,  dooms  the 
immense  majority  of  workmen  to  remain  without 
technical  education,  to  remain  mediocre  even  in 
their  own  trade. 

This  is  not  merely  accidental,  it  is  a  necessity  of 
the  capitalist  system.  In  order  to  remunerate 
certain  classes  of  workmen,  peasants  must  be- 
come the  beasts  of  burden  of  society ;  the  country 
must  be  deserted  for  the  town;  small  trades  must 


Ways  and  Means  117 

agglomerate  in  the  foul  suburbs  of  large  cities, 
and  manufacture  a  thousand  things  of  little  value 
for  next  to  nothing,  so  as  to  bring  the  goods  of  the 
greater  industries  within  reach  of  buyers  with  small 
salaries.  That  bad  cloth  may  sell,  garments  are 
made  for  ill-paid  workers  by  tailors  who  are  satisfied 
with  a  starvation  wage!  Eastern  lands  in  a  back- 
ward state  are  exploited  by  the  West,  in  order  that, 
under  the  capitalist  system,  workers  in  a  few 
privileged  industries  may  obtain  certain  limited 
comforts  of  life. 

The  evil  of  the  present  system  is  therefore  not 
that  the  "surplus-value"  of  production  goes  to 
the  capitalist,  as  Rodbertus  and  Marx  said,  thus 
narrowing  the  Socialist  conception  and  the  general 
view  of  the  capitalist  system;  the  surplus-value 
itself  is  but  a  consequence  of  deeper  causes. 
The  evil  lies  in  the  possibility  of  a  surplus-value 
existing,  instead  of  a  simple  surplus  not  consumed 
by  each  generation ;  for,  that  a  surplus-value  should 
exist,  means  that  men,  women,  and  children  are 
compelled  by  hunger  to  sell  their  labour  for  a 
small  part  of  what  this  labour  produces,  and, 
above  all,  of  what  their  labour  is  capable  of  pro- 
ducing. But  this  evil  will  last  as  long  as  the 
instruments  of  production  belong  to  a  few.  As 
long  as  men  are  compelled  to  pay  tribute  to 
property  holders  for  the  right  of  cultivating 
land  or  putting  machinery  into  action,  and  the 
property  holder  is  free  to  produce  what  bids  fair 
to  bring  him  in  the  greatest  profits,  rather  than  the 
greatest  amount  of  useful  commodities  —  well-being 


4i8  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

can  only  be  temporarily  guaranteed  to  a  very 
few,  and  is  only  to  be  bought  by  the  poverty 
of  a  section  of  society.  It  is  not  sufficient  to 
distribute  the  profits  realized  by  a  trade  in  equal 
parts,  if  at  the  same  time  thousands  of  other 
workers  are  exploited.     It  is  a  case  of  producing 

THE  GREATEST  AMOUNT  OF  GOODS  NECESSARY  TO 
THE  WELL-BEING  OF  ALL,  WITH  THE  LEAST  POSSIBLE 
WASTE    OF   HUMAN    ENERGY. 

This  cannot  be  the  aim  of  a  private  owner; 
and  this  is  why  society  as  a  whole,  taking  this 
view  of  production  as  its  ideal,  will  be  compelled 
to  expropriate  all  that  enhances  well-being  while 
producing  wealth.  It  will  have  to  take  possession 
of  land,  factories,  mines,  means  of  communication, 
etc.,  and  besides,  it  will  have  to  study  what 
products  will  promote  general  well-being,  as  well 
as  the  ways  and  means  of  production. 

II 

How  many  hours  a  day  will  man  have  to  work 
to  produce  nourishing  food,  a  comfortable  home, 
and  necessary  clothing  for  his  family?  This 
question  has  often  preoccupied  Socialists,  and 
they  generally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  four 
or  five  hours  a  day  would  suffice,  on  condition,  be 
it  well  undertsood,  that  all  men  work.  At  the 
end  of  last  century,  Benjamin  Franklin  fixed  the 
limit  at  five  hours;  and  if  the  need  of  comfort  is 
greater  now,  the  power  of  production  has  aug- 
mented too,  and  far  more  rapidly. 


Ways  and  Means  119 

In  speaking  of  agriculture  further  on,  we  shall 
see  what  the  earth  can  be  made  to  yield  to  man 
when  he  cultivates  it  scientifically,  instead  of 
throwing  seed  haphazard  in  a  badly  ploughed  soil 
as  he  mostly  does  to-day.  In  the  great  farms  of 
Western  America,  some  of  which  cover  30  square 
miles,  but  have  a  poorer  soil  than  the  manured 
soil  of  civilized  countries,  only  10  to  15  English 
bushels  per  English  acre  are  obtained ;  that  is 
to  say,  half  the  yield  of  European  farms  or  .of 
American  farms  in  Eastern  States.  And  never- 
theless, thanks  to  machines  which  enable  2  men 
to  plough  4  English  acres  a  day,  100  men  can 
produce  in  a  year  all  that  is  necessary  to  deliver 
the  bread  of  10,000  people  at  their  homes  during 
a  whole  year. 

Thus  it  would  suffice  for  a  man  to  work  under 
the  same  conditions  for  30  hours,  say  6  half-days 
of  five  hours  each,  to  have  bread  for  a  whole  year; 
and  to  work  30  half-days  to  guarantee  the  same 
to  a  family  of  5  people. 

We  shall  also  prove  by  results  obtained  now- 
adays that  if  we  had  recourse  to  intensive  agricul- 
ture, less  than  6  half -days'  work  could  procure 
bread,  meat,  vegetables,  and  even  luxurious  fruit 
for  a  whole  family. 

And  again,  if  we  study  the  cost  of  workmen's 
dwellings,  built  in  large  towns  to-day,  we  can 
ascertain  that  to  obtain,  in  a  large  EngHsh  city, 
a  detached  little  house,  as  they  are  built  for 
workmen,  from  1400  to  1800  half -days'  work  of 
5   hours  would  be  sufficient.     As  a  house  of   that 


I20  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

kind  lasts  50  years  at  least,  it  follows  that  28  to 
36  half -days'  work  a  year  would  provide  well- 
furnished,  healthy  quarters,  with  all  necessary 
comfort  for  a  family.  Whereas  when  hiring  the 
same  apartment  from  an  employer,  a  workman 
pays  75  to  100  days'  work  per  year. 

Mark  that  these  figures  represent  the  maximum 
of  what  a  house  costs  in  England  to-day,  being 
given  the  defective  organization  of  our  societies. 
In  Belgium,  workmen's  cities  have  been  built  far 
cheaper.  Taking  everything  into  consideration,  we 
are  justified  in  affirming  that  in  a  well-organized 
society  30  or  40  half-days'  work  a  year  will  suffice 
to  guarantee  a  perfectly  comfortable  home. 

There  now  remains  clothing,  the  exact  value 
of  which  is  almost  impossible  to  fix,  because  the 
profits  realized  by  a  swarm  of  middlemen  cannot  be 
estimated.  Let  us  take  cloth,  for  example,  and  add 
up  all  the  deductions  made  by  landowners,  sheep 
owners,  wool  merchants,  and  all  their  intermediate 
agents,  then  by  railway  companies,  mill-owners, 
weavers,  dealers  in  ready-made  clothes,  sellers  and 
commission  agents,  and  you  will  get  an  idea  of 
what  is  paid  to  a  whole  swarm  of  capitalists  for  each 
article  of  clothing.  That  is  why  it  is  perfectly 
impossible  to  say  how  many  days'  work  an  overcoat 
that  you  pay  £3  or  £^  in  a  large  London  shop 
represents. 

What  is  certain  is  that  with  present  machinery 
they  no  doubt  manage  to  manufacture  an  incredible 
amount  of  goods. 

A  few  examples  will  suffice.    Thus  in  the  United 


Ways  and  Means  121 

States,  in  751  cotton  mills  (for  spinning  and  weav- 
ing), 175,000  men  and  women  produce  2,033,000,000 
yards  of  cotton  goods,  besides  a  great  quantity  of 
thread.  On  the  average,  more  than  12,000  yards 
of  cotton  goods  alone  are  obtained  by  a  300  days' 
work  of  9^  hours  each,  say  40  yards  of  cotton  in  10 
hours.  Admitting  that  a  family  needs  200  yards  a 
year  at  most,  this  would  be  equivalent  to  50  hours' 
work,  say  10  half -days  of  5  hours  each.  And  we 
should  have  thread  besides;  that  is  to  say,  cotton 
to  sew  with,  and  thread  to  weave  cloth  with,  so  as 
to  manufacture  woolen  stuffs  mixed  with  cotton. 

As  to  the  results  obtained  by  weaving  alone,  the 
official  statistics  of  the  United  States  teach  us  that 
in  1870  if  workmen  worked  13  to  14  hours  a  day, 
they  made  10,000  yards  of  white  cotton  goods  in  a 
year;  thirteen  years  later  (1886)  they  wove  30,000 
yards  by  working  only  55  hours  a  week. 

Even  in  printed  cotton  goods  they  obtained, 
weaving  and  printing  included,  32,000  yards  in  2670 
hours  of  work  a  year  —  say  about  1 2  yards  an  hour. 
Thus  to  have  your  200  yards  of  white  and  printed 
cotton  goods  17  hours'  work  a  year  would  suffice. 
It  is  necessary  to  remark  that  raw  material  reaches 
these  factories  in  about  the  same  state  as  it  comes 
from  the  fields,  and  that  the  transformations  gone 
through  by  the  piece  before  it  is  converted  into 
goods  are  completed  in  the  course  of  these  1 7  hours. 
But  to  buy  these  200  yards  from  the  tradesman,  a 
well-paid  workman  must  give  at  the  very  least  10  to 
15  days'  work  of  10  hours  each,  say  100  to  150  hours. 
And  as  to  the  English  peasant,  he  would  have    to 


122  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

toil  for  a  month,  or  a  little  more,  to  obtain  this 
luxury. 

By  this  example  we  already  see  that  by  working 
50  half-days  per  year  in  a  well-organized  society 
we  could  dress  better  than  the  lower  middle  classes 
do  to-day. 

But  with  all  this  we  have  only  required  60 
half -days'  work  of  5  hours  each  to  obtain  the  fruits 
of  the  earth,  40  for  housing,  and  50  for  clothing, 
which  only  makes  half  a  year's  work,  as  the  year 
consists  of  300  working-days  if  we  deduct  holidays. 

There  remain  still  150  half -days'  work  which 
could  be  made  use  of  for  other  necessaries  of  life  — 
wine,  sugar,  coffee,  tea,  furniture,  transport,  etc.  etc. 

It  is  evident  that  these  calculations  are  only 
approximative,  but  they  can  also  be  proved  in  an- 
other way.  When  we  take  into  account  how  many, 
in  the  so-called  civilized  nations,  produce  nothing, 
how  many  work  at  harmful  trades,  doomed  to 
disappear,  and  lastly,  how  many  are  only  useless 
middlemen,  we  see  that  in  each  nation  the  number 
of  real  producers  could  be  doubled.  And  if,  instead 
of  every  10  men,  20  were  occupied  in  producing 
useful  commodities,  and  if  society  took  the  trouble 
to  economize  human  energy,  those  20  people  would 
only  have  to  work  5  hours  a  day  without  production 
decreasing.  And  it  would  suffice  to  reduce  the 
waste  of  human  energy  at  the  service  of  wealthy 
families,  or  of  those  administrations  that  have  one 
official  to  every  ten  inhabitants,  and  to  utilize  those 
forces,  to  augment  the  productivity  of  the  nation, 
to  limit  work  to  four  or  even  to  three  hours,  on 


Ways  and  Means  123 

condition  that  we  shoiild  be  satisfied  with  present 
production. 

After  studying  all  these  facts  together,  we  may 
arrive,  then,  at  the  following  conclusion:  Imagine 
a  society,  comprising  a  few  million  inhabitants, 
engaged  in  agriculture  and  a  great  v^ariety  of  indus- 
tries —  Paris,  for  example,  with  the  Department 
of  Seine-et-Oise.  .Suppose  that  in  this  society  all 
children  learn  to  work  with  their  hands  as  well  as 
with  their  brains.  Admit  that  all  adults,  save 
women,  engaged  in  the  edifcatfon  of  their  children, 
bind  themselves  to  work  5  hours  a  day  from  the  age 
of  twenty  or  twenty-two  to  forty -five  or  fifty,  and 
that  they  follow  occupations  they  have  chosen  in 
any  one  branch  of  human  work  considered  necessary. 
Such  a  society  could  in  return  guarantee  well-being 
to  all  its  members ;  that  is  to  say,  a  more  substantial 
well-being  than  that  enjoyed  to-day  by  the  middle 
classes.  And,  moreover,  each  worker  belonging  to 
this  society  would  have  at  his  disposal  at  least  5 
hours  a  day  which  he  could  devote  to  science,  art, 
and  individual  needs  which  do  not  come  under  the 
category  of  necessities,  but  will  probably  do  so  later 
on,  when  man's  productivity  will  have  augmented, 
and  those  objects  will  no  longer  appear  Ixixurious 
or  inaccessible. 


CHAPTER  IX 
The  Need  for  Luxury 


Man,  however,  is  not  a  being  whose  exclusive 
purpose  in  Hfe  is  eating,  drinking,  and  providing  a 
shelter  for  himself.  As  soon  as  his  material  wants 
are  satisfied,  other  needs,  of  an  artistic  character, 
will  thrust  themselves  forward  the  more  ardently. 
Aims  of  life  vary  with  each  and  every  individual; 
and  the  more  society  is  civilized,  the  more  will 
individuality  be  developed,  and  the  more  will 
desires  be  varied. 

Even  to-day  we  see  men  and  women  denying 
themselves  necessaries  to  acquire  mere  trifles, 
to  obtain  some  particular  gratification,  or  some 
intellectual  or  material  enjoyment.  A  Christian 
or  an  ascetic  may  disapprove  of  these  desires  for 
luxury;  but  it  is  precisely  these  trifles  that  break 
the  monotony  of  existence  and  make  it  agreeable. 
Would  life,  with  all  its  inevitable  sorrows,  be  worth 
living,  if  besides  daily  work  man  could  never  obtain 
a  single  pleasure  according  to  his  individual  tastes.'' 

If  we  wish  for  a  Social  Revolution,  it  is  no  doubt 
in  the  first  place  to  give  bread  to  all;  to  transform 
this  execrable  society,  in  which  we  can  every  day 
see  robust  workmen  dangling  their  arms  for  want 
of   an    employer  who    will   exploit   them;    women 

134 


The  Need  for  Luxury  125 

and  children  wandering  shelterless  at  night;  whole 
families  reduced  to  dry  bread;  men,  women,  and 
children  dying  for  want  of  care  and  even  for  want 
of  food.  It  is  to  put  an  end  to  these  iniquities 
that  we  rebel. 

But  we  expect  more  from  the  Revolution.  We 
see  that  the  worker,  compelled  to  struggle  pain- 
fully for  bare  existence,  is  reduced  to  ignorance 
of  these  higher  delights,  the  highest  within  man's 
reach,  of  science,  and  especially  of  scientific  dis- 
covery; of  art,  and  especially  of  artistic  creation. 
It  is  in  order  to  obtain  these  joys  for  all,  which  are 
now  reserved  to  a  few;  in  order  to  give  leisure  and 
the  possibility  of  developing  intellectual  capacities, 
that  the  social  revolution  must  guarantee  daily 
bread  to  all.  After  bread  has  been  secured,  leisure 
is  the  supreme  aim. 

No  doubt,  nowadays,  when  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  human  beings  are  in  need  of  bread,  coal, 
clothing,  and  shelter,  luxury  is  a  crime;  to  satisfy 
it  the  worker's  child  must  go  without  bread!  But 
in  a  society  in  which  all  can  eat  sufficiently,  the 
needs  which  we  consider  luxuries  to-day  will  be 
the  more  keenly  felt.  And  as  all  men  do  not  and 
cannot  resemble  one  another  (the  variety  of  tastes 
and  needs  is  the  chief  guarantee  of  human  progress) 
there  will  always  be,  and  it  is  desirable  that  there 
should  always  be,  men  and  women  whose  desire 
will  go  beyond  those  of  ordinary  individuals  in  some 
particular  direction. 

Everybody  does  not  need  a  telescope,  because, 
even  if  learning  were  general,  there  are  people  who 


126  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

prefer  examining  things  through  a  microscope  to 
studying  the  starry  heavens.  Some  like  statues, 
some  pictures.  A  particular  individual  has  no 
other  ambition  than  to  possess  an  excellent  piano, 
while  another  is  pleased  with  an  accordion.  The 
tastes  vary,  but  the  artistic  needs  exist  in  all.  In 
our  present,  poor  capitalistic  society,  the  man  who 
has  artistic  needs  cannot  satisfy  them  unless  he  is 
heir  to  a  large  fortune,  or  by  dint  of  hard  work 
appropriates  to  himself  an  intellectual  capital  which 
will  enable  him  to  take  up  a  liberal  profession.  Still 
he  cherishes  the  hope  of  some  day  satisfying  his 
tastes  more  of  less,  and  for  this  reason  he  reproaches 
the  idealist  Communist  societies  with  having  the 
material  life  of  each  individual  as  their  sole  aim.  — 
"  In  your  communal  stores  you  may  perhaps  have 
bread  for  all,"  he  says  to  us,  "but  you  will  not  have 
beautiful  pictures,  optical  instruments,  luxurious 
furniture,  artistic  jewelry  —  in  short,  the  many 
things  that  minister  to  the  infinite  variety  of 
human  tastes.  And  in  this  way  you  suppress  the 
possibility  of  obtaining  anything  besides  the  bread 
and  meat  which  the  commune  can  offer  to  all,  and 
the  grey  linen  in  which  all  your  lady  citizens  will 
be  dressed." 

These  are  the  objections  which  all  communist 
systems  have  to  consider,  and  which  the  founders 
of  new  societies,  established  in  American  deserts, 
never  understood.  They  believed  that  if  the  com- 
■munity  could  procure  sufficient  cloth  to  dress  all 
its  members,  a  music  hall  in  which  the  "brothers" 
could  strum  a  piece  of  music,  or  act  a  play  from 


The  Need  for  Luxury  127 

time  to  time,  it  was  enotigh.  They  forgot  that  the 
feeling  for  art  existed  in  the  agriculturist  as  well  as 
in  the  burgher,  and,  notwithstanding  that  the  ex- 
pression of  artistic  feeling  varies  according  to  the 
difference  in  culture,  in  the  main  it  remains  the 
same.  In  vain  did  the  community  guarantee  the 
common  necessaries  of  life,  in  vain  did  it  suppress  all 
education  that  would  tend  to  develop  individuality, 
in  vain  did  it  eliminate  all  reading  save  the  Bible. 
Individual  tastes  broke  forth,  and  caused  general 
discontent;  quarrels  arose  when  somebody  proposed 
to  buy  a  piano  or  scientific  instruments;  and  the 
elements  of  progress  flagged.  The  society  could 
only  exist  on  condition  that  it  crushed  all  individual 
feeling,  all  artistic  tendency,  and  all  development. 

Will  the  anarchist  Commune  be  impelled  by  the 
same  direction?  Evidently  not,  if  it  understands 
that  while  it  produces  all  that  is  necessary  to 
material  life,  it  must  also  strive  to  satisfy  all 
manifestations  of  the  human  mind. 


II 

We  frankly  confess  that  when  we  think  of  the 
abyss  of  poverty  and  siiffering  that  surrounds  us, 
when  we  hear  the  heartrending  cry  of  the  worker 
walking  the  streets  begging  for  work,  we  are  loth 
to  discuss  the  question:  How  will  men  act  in  a 
society,  whose  members  are  properly  fed,  to 
satisfy  certain  individuals  desirous  of  possesssing 
a  piece  of  Sevres  china  or  a  velvet  dress  ? 

We  are  tempted  to  answer:     Let  us  make  sure 


128  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  bread  to  begin  with,  we  shall  see  to  china  and 
velvet  later  on. 

But  as  we  must  recognize  that  man  has  other 
needs  besides  food,  and  as  the  strength  of  Anarchy 
lies  precisely  in  that  it  understands  all  human 
faculties  and  all  passions,  and  ignores  none,  we 
shall,  in  a  few  words,  explain  how  man  can  con- 
trive to  satisfy  all  his  intellectual  and  artistic 
needs. 

We  have  already  mentioned  that  by  working 
4  or  5  hours  a  day  till  the  age  of  forty -five  or  fifty, 
man  could  easily  produce  all  that  is  necessary  to 
guarantee  comfort  to  society. 

But  the  day's  work  of  a  man  accustomed  to 
toil  does  not  consist  of  5  hours;  it  is  a  10  hours' 
day  for  300  days  a  year,  and  lasts  all  his  life.  Of 
course,  when  a  man  is  harnessed  to  a  machine,  his 
health  is  soon  undermined  and  his  intelligence  is 
blunted ;  but  when  man  has  the  possibiHty  of  varying 
occupations,  and  especially  of  alternating  manual 
with  intellectual  work,  he  can  remain  occupied 
without  fatigue,  and  even  with  pleasure,  for  10  or 
12  hours  a  day.  Consequently,  the  man  who  will 
have  done  4  or  5  hours  of  manual  work  necessary 
for  his  existence,  will  have  before  him  5  or  6  hours 
which  he  will  seek  to  employ  according  to  his  tastes. 
And  these  5  or  6  hours  a  day  will  fully  enable  him 
to  procure  for  himself,  if  he  associates  with  others, 
all  he  wishes  for,  in  addition  to  the  necessaries 
guaranteed  to  all. 

He  will  discharge  first  his  task  in  the  field,  the 
factory,  and  so  on,  which  he  owes  to  society  as  his 


The  Need  for  Luxury  129 

contribution  to  the  general  production.  And  he 
will  employ  the  second  half  of  his  day,  his  week, 
or  his  year,  to  satisfy  his  artistic  or  scientific 
needs,  or  his  hobbies. 

Thousands  of  societies  will  spring  up  to  gratify 
every  taste  ^.nd  every  possible  fancy. 

Some,  for  example,  will  give  their  hours  of  leisure 
to  literature.  They  will  then  form  groups  com- 
prising authors,  compositors,  printers,  engravers, 
draughtsmen,  all  pursuing  a  common  aim  —  the 
propagation  of  ideas  that  are  dear  to  them. 

Nowadays  an  author  knows  that  there  is  a 
beast  of  burden,  the  worker,  to  whom,  for  the 
sum  of  a  few  shillings  a  day,  he  can  entrust  the 
printing  of  his  books;  but  he  hardly  cares  to  know 
what  a  printing  office  is  like.  If  the  compositor 
suffers  from  lead-poisoning,  and  if  the  child  who 
sees  to  the  machine  dies  of  anasrtiia,  are  there  not 
other  poor  wretches  to  replace  them? 

But  when  there  will  be  no  more  starvelings 
ready  to  sell  their  work  for  a  pittance,  when  the 
exploited  worker  of  to-day  will  be  educated,  and 
will  have  his  own  ideas  to  put  down  in  black  and 
white  and  to  communicate  to  others,  then  the 
authors  and  scientific  men  will  be  compelled  to 
combine  among  themselves  and  with  the  print- 
ers, in  order  to  bring  out  their  prose  and  their 
poetry. 

So  long  as  men  consider  fustian  and  manual 
labour  a  mark  of  inferiority,  it  will  appear  amazing 
to  them  to  see  an  author  setting  up  his  own  book  in 
type,  for  has  he  not  a  gymnasium  or  games  by  way 


I30  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  diversion?  But  when  the  opprobrium  connected 
with  manual  labour  has  disappeared,  when  all  will 
have  to  work  with  their  hands,  there  being  no  one 
to  do  it  for  them,  then  the  authors  as  well  as  their 
admirers  will  soon  learn  the  art  of  handling  com- 
posing-sticks and  type ;  they  will  know  the  pleasure 
of  coming  together  —  all  admirers  of  the  work  to  be 
printed  —  to  set  up  the  type,  to  shape  it  into  pages, 
to  take  it  in  its  virginal  purity  from  the  press. 
These  beautiful  machines,  instruments  of  torture 
to  the  child  who  attends  on  them  from  mom  till 
night,  will  be  a  source  of  enjoyment  for  those  who 
will  make  use  of  them  in  order  to  give  voice  to  the 
thoughts  of  their  favourite  author. 

Will  literature  lose  by  it?  Will  the  poet  be 
less  a  poet  after  having  worked  out  of  doors  or 
helped  with  his  hands  to  multiply  his  work?  Will 
the  novelist  lose  his  knowledge  of  human  nature 
after  having  rubbed  shoulders  with  other  men  in 
the  forest  or  the  factory,  in  the  laying  out  of  a  road 
or  on  a  railway  line?  Can  there  be  two  answers  to 
these  questions? 

Maybe  some  books  will  be  less  voluminous; 
but  then,  more  will  be  said  on  fewer  pages. 
Maybe  fewer  waste-sheets  will  be  published;  but 
the  matter  printed  will  be  more  attentively  read 
and  more  appreciated.  The  book  will  appeal  to  a 
larger  circle  of  better  educated  readers,  who  will  be 
more  competent  to  judge. 

Moreover,  the  art  of  printing,  that  has  so  little 
progressed  since  Gutenberg,  is  still  in  its  infancy. 
It  takes  two  hours  to  compose  in  type  what  is 


The  Need  for  Luxury  131 

written  in  ten  minutes,  but  more  expeditious 
methods  of  multiplying  thought  are  being  sought 
after  and  will  be  discovered. 

What  a  pity  every  author  does  not  have  to  take 
his  share  in  the  printing  of  his  works !  What  progress 
printing  would  have  already  made !  We  should  no 
longer  be  using  the  movable  letters,  as  in  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

Ill 

Is  it  a  dream  to  conceive  a  society  in  which  —  all 
having  become  producers,  all  having  received  an 
education  that  enables  them  to  cultivate  science 
or  art,  and  all  having  leisure  to  do  so  —  men  would 
combine  to  publish  the  works  of  their  choice,  by 
contributing  each  his  share  of  manual  work?  We 
have  already  hundreds  of  learned,  literary,  and  other 
societies ;  and  these  societies  are  nothing  but  volun- 
tary groups  of  men,  interested  in  certain  branches 
of  learning,  and  associated  for  the  purpose  of  pub- 
lishing their  works.  The  authors  who  write  for  the 
periodicals  of  these  societies  are  not  paid,  and  the 
periodicals  are  not  for  sale;  they  are  sent  gratis  to 
all  quarters  of  the  globe,  to  other  societies,  cultivat- 
ing the  same  branches  of  learning.  This  member 
of  the  society  may  insert  in  its  review  a  one-page 
note  summarizing  his  observations;  another  may 
publish  therein  an  extensive  work,  the  results  of 
long  years  of  study;  while  others  will  confine 
themselves  to  consulting  the  review  as  a  starting- 
point  for  further  research.  It  does  not  matter:  all 
these  authors  and  readers  are  associated  for  the 


132  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

production  of  works  in  which  all  of  them  take  an 
interest. 

It  is  true  that  a  learned  society,  like  the  individual 
author,  goes  to  a  printing  office  where  workmen  are 
engaged  to  do  the  printing.  Nowadays,  those  who 
belong  to  the  learned  societies  despise  manual  labour, 
which  indeed  is  carried  on  under  very  bad  con- 
ditions; but  a  community  which  would  give  a 
generous  philosophic  and  scientific  education  to  all 
its  members,  would  know  how  to  organize  manual 
labour  in  such  a  way  that  it  would  be  the  pride  of 
humanity.  Its  learned  societies  would  become 
associations  of  explorers,  lovers  of  science,  and 
workers  —  all  knowing  a  manual  trade  and  all 
interested  in  science. 

If,  for  example,  the  society  is  studying  geology, 
all  will  contribute  to  the  exploration  of  the  earth's 
strata ;  each  member  will  take  his  share  in  research, 
and  ten  thousand  observers,  where  we  have  now 
only  a  hundred,  will  do  more  in  a  year  than  we 
can  do  in  twenty  years.  And  when  their  works 
are  to  be  published,  ten  thousand  men  and  women, 
skilled  in  different  trades,  will  be  ready  to  draw 
maps,  engrave  designs,  compose,  and  print  the 
books.  With  gladness  will  they  give  their  leisure 
—  in  summer  to  exploration,  in  winter  to  indoor 
work.  And  when  their  works  appear,  they  will 
find  not  only  a  hundred,  but  ten  thousand  readers 
interested  in  their  common  work. 

This  is  the  direction  in  which  progress  is  already 
moving.  Even  to-day,  when  England  felt  the  need 
of  a  complete  dictionary  of  the  English  language. 


The  Need  for  Luxury  133 

the  birth  of  a  Littr6,  who  would  devote  his  life  to 
this  work,  was  not  waited  for.  Volunteers  were 
appealed  to,  and  a  thousand  men  offered  their  ser- 
vices, spontaneously  and  gratuitously,  to  ransack  the 
libraries,  to  take  notes,  and  to  accomplish  in  a  few 
years  a  work  which  one  man  could  not  complete  in 
his  lifetime.  In  all  branches  of  human  intelligence 
the  same  spirit  is  breaking  forth,  and  we  should 
have  a  very  limited  knowledge  of  humanity  could  we 
not  guess  that  the  future  is  announcing  itself  in  such 
tentative  co-operation,  which  is  gradually  taking 
the  place  of  individual  work. 

For  this  dictionary  to  be  a  really  collective  work, 
it  would  have  required  that  many  volunteer  authors, 
printers,  and  printers'  readers  should  have  worked 
in  common;  but  something  in  this  direction  is  done 
already  in  the  Socialist  Press,  which  offers  us 
examples  of  manual  and  intellectual  work  combined. 
It  happens  in  our  newspapers  that  a  Socialist  author 
composes  in  lead  his  own  article.  True,  such 
attempts  are  rare,  but  they  indicate  in  which 
direction  evolution  is  going. 

They  show  the  road  of  liberty.  In  future,  when 
a  man  will  have  something  useful  to  say  —  a  word 
that  goes  beyond  the  thoughts  of  his  century,  he 
will  not  have  to  look  for  an  editor  who  might 
advance  the  necessary  capital.  He  will  look  for 
collaborators  among  those  who  know  the  printing 
trade,  and  who  approve  the  idea  of  his  new 
work.  Together  they  will  publish  the  new  book 
or  journal. 

Literature  and  journalism  will  cease  to  be  a  means 


154  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  money-making  and  living  at  the  cost  of  others. 
But  is  there  any  one  who  knows  literature  and 
journalism  from  within,  and  who  does  not  ardently 
desire  that  literature  should  at  last  be  able  to  free 
itself  from  those  who  formerly  protected  it,  and 
who  now  exploit  it,  and  from  the  multitude  which, 
with  rare  exceptions,  pays  it  in  proportion  to 
its  mediocrity,  or  to  the  ease  with  which  it 
adapts  itself  to  the  bad  taste  of  the  greater 
number? 

Letters  and  science  will  only  take  their  proper 
place  in  the  work  of  human  development  when, 
freed  from  all  mercenary  bondage,  they  will  be 
exclusively  cultivated  by  those  that  love  them, 
and  for  those  that  love  them. 

IV 

Literature,  science,  and  art  must  be  cultivated 
by  free  men.  Only  on  this  condition  will  the}'' 
succeed  in  emancipating  themselves  from  the 
yoke  of  the  State,  of  Capital,  and  of  the  bourgeois 
mediocrity  which  stifles  them.    . 

What  means  has  the  scientist  of  to-day  to  make 
researches  that  interest  him?  Should  he  ask 
help  of  the  State,  which  can  only  be  given  to  one 
candidate  in  a  hundred,  and  which  none  may  obtain 
who  does  not  ostensibly  promise  to  keep  to  the 
beaten  track?  Let  us  remember  how  the  Institute 
of  France  censured  Darwin,  how  the  Academy  of 
St.  Petersburg  treated  Mendeleeff  with  contempt, 
and   how   the   Royal   Society   of   London   refused 


The  Need  for  Luxury  135 

to  publish  Joule's  paper,  in  which  he  determined 
the  mechanical  equivalent  of  heat,  finding  it 
"unscientific."* 

It  is  why  all  great  researches,  all  discoveries 
revolutionizing  science,  have  been  made  outside 
academies  and  imiversities,  either  by  men  rich 
enough  to  remain  independent,  Hke  Darwin  and 
Lyell,  or  by  men  who  undermined  their  health  by 
working  in  poverty,  and  often  in  great  straits, 
losing  no  end  of  time  for  want  of  a  laboratory, 
and  tmable  to  procure  the  instnmients  or  books 
necessary  to  continue  their  researches,  but  perse- 
vering against  hope  and  often  dying  before  they 
had  reached  the  end  in  view.  Their  name  is 
legion. 

Altogether,  the  system  of  help  granted  by  the 
State  is  so  bad  that  science  has  always  endeavoured 
to  emancipate  itself  from  it.  For  this  very  reason 
there  are  thousands  of  learned  societies  organized 
and  maintained  by  volunteers  in  Europe  and 
America,  —  some  having  developed  to  such  a  degree 
that  all  the  resources  of  subventioned  societies, 
and  the  wealth  of  millionaires,  would  not  buy 
their  treasures.  No  governmental  institution  is 
as  rich  as  the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  which 
is  supported  by  voluntary  contributions. 

It  does  not  buy  the  animals  which  in  thousands 
people  its  gardens:  they  are  sent  by  other 
societies  and  by  collectors  of  the  entire  world. 
The   Zoological  Society  of   Bombay  will  send   an 

*  We  know  this  from  Pla5rfair,  who  mentioned  it  at  Joule's 
death. 


136  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

elephant  as  a  gift;  another  time  a  hippopotamus 
or  a  rhinoceros  is  offered  by  Egyptian  naturaUsts. 

And  these  magnificent  presents  are  pouring  in 
every  day,  arriving  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe 
—  birds,  reptiles,  collections  of  insects,  etc.  These 
consignments  often  comprise  animals  that  could 
not  be  bought  for  all  the  gold  in  the  world;  thus, 
a  traveller  who  has  captured  an  animal  at  life's 
peril,  and  now  loves  it  as  he  would  love  a  child, 
will  give  it  to  the  Society  because  he  is  sure  it  will 
be  cared  for.  The  entrance  fee  paid  by  visitors, 
and  they  are  numberless,  suffices  for  the  maintenance 
of  that  immense  institution. 

What  is  defective  in  the  Zoological  Society  of 
London,  and  in  other  kindred  societies,  is  that  the 
member's  fee  cannot  be  paid  in  work:  that  the 
keepers  and  numerous  employes  of  this  large  insti- 
tution are  not  recognized  as  members  of  the  Society, 
while  many  have  no  other  incentive  to  joining  the 
society  than  to  put  the  cabalistic  letters  F.Z.S. 
(Fellow  of  the  Zoological  Society)  on  their  cards.  In 
a  word,  what  is  needed  is  a  more  perfect  co-operation. 

We  may  say  the  same  about  inventors  that  we 
have  said  of  scientists.  Who  does  not  know  what 
sufferings  nearly  all  great  inventions  that  have 
come  to  light  have  cost?  Sleepless  nights,  families 
deprived  of  bread,  want  of  tools  and  materials  for 
experiments,  is  the  history  of  nearly  all  those  who 
have  enriched  industry  with  inventions  which  are 
the  truly  legitimate  pride  of  our  civilization. 

But  what  are  we  to  do  to  alter  conditions  that 
everybody  is  convinced  are  bad?     Patents  have 


The  Need  for  Luxury  137 

been  tried,  and  we  know  with  what  restilts.  The 
inventor  sells  his  patent  for  a  few  shillings,  and  the 
man  who  has  only  lent  the  capital  pockets  the 
often  enormous  profits  resulting  from  the  invention. 
Besides,  patents  isolate  the  inventor.  They  com- 
pel him  to  keep  secret  his  researches  which  there- 
fore end  in  failure ;  whereas  the  simplest  suggestion, 
coming  from  a  brain  less  absorbed  in  the  funda- 
mental idea,  sometimes  suffices  to  fertilize  the 
invention  and  make  it  practical.  Like  all  State 
control,  patents  hamper  the  progress  of  industry. 
Thought  being  incapable  of  being  patented,  patents 
are  a  crying  injustice  in  theory,  and  in  practice 
they  result  in  one  of  the  great  obstacles  to  the 
rapid  development  of  invention. 

What  is  needed  to  promote  the  spirit  of  inven- 
tion is,  first  of  all,  the  awakening  of  thought,  the 
boldness  of  conception,  which  our  entire  education 
causes  to  languish;  it  is  the  spreading  of  a  scien- 
tific education,  which  would  increase  the  number  of 
inquirers  a  hundred-fold ;  it  is  faith  that  humanity 
is  going  to  take  a  step  forward,  because  it  is  enthu- 
siasm, the  hope  of  doing  good,  that  has  inspired  all 
the  great  inventors.  The  Social  Revolution  alone 
can  give  this  impulse  to  thought,  this  boldness,  this 
knowledge,  this  conviction  of  working  for  all. 

Then  we  shall  have  vast  institutes  supplied  with 
motor-power  and  tools  of  all  sorts,  immense  indus- 
trial laboratories  open  to  all  inquirers,  where  men 
will  be  able  to  work  out  their  dreams,  after  having 
acquitted  themselves  of  their  duty  towards  society; 
where  they  will  spend  their  five  or  six  hours  of 


138  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

leisure;  where  they  will  make  their  experiments; 
where  they  will  find  other  comrades,  experts  in 
other  branches  of  industry,  likewise  coming  to  study 
some  difficult  problem,  and  therefore  able  to  help 
and  enlighten  each  other,  —  the  encounter  of  their 
ideas  and  experience  causing  the  longed-for  solution 
to  be  found.  And  yet  again,  this  is  no  dream. 
Solanoy  Gorodok,  in  Petersburg,  has  already  par- 
tially realized  it  as  regards  technical  matters.  It  is 
a  factory  well  furnished  with  tools  and  free  to  all; 
tools  and  motor-power  are  supplied  gratis,  only 
metals  and  wood  are  charged  for  at  cost  price. 
Unfortunately  workmen  only  go  there  at  night 
when  worn  out  by  ten  hours'  labour  in  the  work- 
shop. Moreover,  they  carefully  hide  their  inven- 
tions from  each  other,  as  they  are  hampered  by 
patents  and  Capitalism,  that  bane  of  present 
society,  that  stumbling-block  in  the  path  of 
intellectual  and  moral  progress. 


And  what  about  art?  From  all  sides  we  hear 
lamentations  about  the  decadence  of  art.  We 
are,  indeed,  far  behind  the  great  masters  of  the 
Renaissance.  The  technicalities  of  art  have 
recently  made  great  progress;  thousands  of  people 
gifted  with  a  certain  amount  of  talent  cultivate 
every  branch,  but  art  seems  to  fly  from  civiliza- 
tion !  Technicalities  make  headway,  but  inspiration 
frequents  artists'  studios  less  than  ever. 

Where,   indeed,   should   it   comie  from?     Only   a 


The  Need  for  Luxury  139 

grand  Idea  can  inspire  art.  Art  is  in  our  ideal 
synonymous  with  creation,  it  must  look  ahead; 
but  save  a  few  rare,  very  rare  -exceptions,  the  pro- 
fessional artist  remains  too  philistine  to  perceive 
new  horizons. 

Moreover,  this  inspiration  cannot  come  from 
books;  it  must  be  drawn  from  life,  and  present 
society  cannot  arouse  it. 

Raphael  and  Murillo  painted  at  a  time  when 
the  search  of  a  new  ideal  could  adapt  itself  to  old 
religious  traditions.  They  painted  to  decorate  great 
churches  which  represented  the  pious  work  of  several 
generations.  The  basilic  with  its  mysterious  aspect, 
its  grandeur,  was  connected  with  the  life  itself  of 
the  city  and  could  inspire  a  painter.  He  worked 
for  a  popular  monument;  he  spoke  to  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  in  return  he  received  inspiration;  he 
appealed  to  the  multitude  in  the  same  way  as  did 
the  nave,  the  pillars,  the  stained  windows,  the 
statues,  and  the  carved  doors.  Nowadays  the 
greatest  honour  a  painter  can  aspire  to  is  to  see  his 
canvas,  framed  in  gilded  wood,  hung  in  a  museum, 
a  sort  of  old  curiosity  shop,  where  you  see,  as  in 
the  Prado,  Murillo's  Ascension  next  to  a  beggar 
of  Velasquez  and  the  dogs  of  Philip  II.  Poor 
Velasquez  and  poor  Murillo!  Poor  Greek  statues 
which  lived  in  the  Acropolis  of  their  cities,  and  are 
now  stifled  beneath  the  red  cloth  hangings  of  the 
Louvre ! 

When  a  Greek  sculptor  chiselled  his  marble  he 
endeavoured  to  express  the  spirit  and  heart  of  the 
city.     All  its  passions,  all  its  traditions  of  glory, 


140  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

were  to  live  again  in  the  work.  But  to-day  the 
united  city  has  ceased  to  exist;  there  is  no  more 
communion  of  ideas.  The  town  is  a  chance 
agglomeration  of  people  who  do  not  know  one 
another,  who  have  no  common  interest,  save  that 
of    enriching    themselves    at    the    expense    of    one 

another.     The     fatherland     does     not     exist 

What  fatherland  can  the  international  banker 
and  the  rag-picker  have  in  common?  Only  when 
cities,  territories,  nations,  or  groups  of  nations, 
will  have  renewed  their  harmonious  life,  will  art 
be  able  to  draw  its  inspiration  from  ideals  held 
in  common.  Then  will  the  architect  conceive 
the  city's  monument  which  will  no  longer  be  a 
temple,  a  prison,  or  a  fortress;  then  will  the 
painter,  the  sculptor,  the  carver,  the  ornament- 
worker  know  where  to  put  their  canvases,  their 
statues,  and  their  decorations;  deriving  their 
power  of  execution  from  the  same  vital  source,  and 
gloriously  marching  all  together  towards  the  future. 
But  till  then  art  can  only  vegetate.  The  best 
canvases  of  modern  artists  are  those  that  represent 
nature,  villages,  valleys,  the  sea  with  its  dangers, 
the  mountain  with  its  splendours.  But  how  can 
the  painter  express  the  poetry  of  work  in  the  fields 
if  he  has  only  contemplated  it,  imagined  it,  if  he  has 
never  delighted  in  it  himself?  If  he  only  knows 
it  as  a  bird  of  passage  knows  the  country  he  soars 
over  on  his  migrations?  If,  in  the  vigour  of  early 
youth,  he  has  not  followed  the  plough  at  dawn  and 
enjoyed  mowing  grass  with  a  large  swathe  of  the 
scythe  next  to  hardy  haymakers  vying  in  energy 


The  Need  for  Luxury  141 

with  lively  young  girls  who  fill  the  air  with  their 
songs?  The  love  of  the  soil  and  of  what  grows 
on  it  is  not  acquired  by  sketching  with  a  paint 
brush  —  it  is  only  in  its  service ;  and  without  loving 
it,  how  paint  it?  This  is  why  all  that  the  best 
painters  have  produced  in  this  direction  is  still  so 
imperfect,  not  true  to  Hfe,  nearly  always  merely 
sentimental.     There  is  no  strength  in  it. 

You  must  have  seen  a  sunset  when  returning 
from  work.  You  must  have  been  a  peasant  among 
peasants  to  keep  the  splendour  of  it  in  your  eye. 
You  must  have  been  at  sea  with  fishermen  at  all 
hours  of  the  day  and  night,  have  fished  yourself, 
struggled  with  the  waves,  faced  the  storm,  and  after 
rough  work  experienced  the  joy  of  hauling  a  heavy 
net,  or  the  disappointment  of  seeing  it  empty,  to 
understand  the  poetry  of  fishing.  You  must  have 
spent  time  in  a  factory,  known  the  fatigues  and  the 
joys  of  creative  work,  forged  metals  by  the  vivid 
light  of  a  blast  furnace,  have  felt  the  life  in  a  machine, 
to  understand  the  power  of  man  and  to  express  it 
in  a  work  of  art.  You  must,  in  fact,  be  permeated 
with  popular  feelings,  to  describe  them.  Besides, 
the  works  of  future  artists  who  will  have  lived  the 
life  of  the  people,  like  the  great  artists  of  the  past, 
will  not  be  destined  for  sale.  They  will  be  an 
integrant  part  of  a  living  whole  that  would  not 
be  complete  without  them,  any  more  than  they 
would  be  complete  without  it.  Men  will  go  to 
the  artist's  own  city  to  gaze  at  his  work,  and  the 
spirited  and  serene  beauty  of  such  creations  will 
produce  its  beneficial  effect  on  heart  and  mind. 


142  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

Art,  in  order  to  develop,  must  be  bound  up  with 
industry  by  a  thousand  intermediate  degrees, 
blended,  so  to  say,  as  Ruskin  and  the  great  Socialist 
poet  Morris  have  proved  so  often  and  so  well. 
Everything  that  surrounds  man,  in  the  street,  in 
the  interior  and  exterior  of  public  monuments, 
must  be  of  a  pure  artistic  form. 

But  this  will  only  be  capable  of  realization  in 
a  society  in  which  all  enjoy  comfort  and  leisure. 
Then  we  shall  see  art  associations,  in  which  each  can 
find  room  for  his  capacity,  for  art  cannot  dispense 
with  an  infinity  of  purely  manual  and  technical 
supplementary  works.  These  artistic  associations 
will  undertake  to  embellish  the  houses  of  their 
members,  as  those  kind  volunteers,  the  young 
painters  of  Edinburgh,  did  in  decorating  the  walls 
and  ceilings  of  the  great  hospital  for  the  poor  in 
their  city. 

A  painter  or  sculptor  who  has 'produced  a  work 
of  personal  feeling  will  offer  it  to  the  woman  he 
loves,  or  to  a  friend.  Executed  for  love's  sake,  will 
his  work,  inspired  by  love,  be  inferior  to  the  art 
that  to-day  satisfies  the  vanity  of  the  philistine, 
because  it  has  cost  much  money? 

The  same  will  be  done  as  regards  all  pleasures 
not  comprised  in  the  necessaries  of  life.  He  who 
wishes  for  a  grand  piano  will  enter  the  association 
of  musical  instrument  makers.  And  by  giving 
the  association  part  of  his  half -days'  leisure,  he  will 
soon  possess  the  piano  of  his  dreams.  If  he  is 
passionately  fond  of  astronomical  studies  he  will 
join    the     association    of    astronomers,    with    its 


The  Need  for  Luxury  143 

philosophers,  its  observers,  its  calculators,  with  its 
artists  in  astronomical  instruments,  its  scientists 
and  amateurs,  and  he  will  have  the  telescope  he 
desires  by  taking  his  share  of  the  associated  work, 
for  it  is  especially  the  rough  work  that  is  needed 
in  an  astronomical  observatory  —  bricklayer's,  car- 
penter's, founder's,  mechanic's  work,  the  last  touch 
being  given  to  the  instrument  of  precision  by  the 
artist. 

In  short,  the  five  or  seven  hours  a  day  which  each 
will  have  at  his  disposal,  after  having  consecrated 
several  hours  to  the  production  of  necessities,  will 
amply  suffice  to  satisfy  all  longings  for  luxury 
however  varied.  Thousands  of  associations  would 
undertake  to  supply  them.  What  is  now  the 
privilege  of  an  insignificant  minority  would  be 
accessible  to  all.  Luxury,  ceasing  to  be  a  foolish 
and.  ostentatious  display  of  the  bourgeois  class, 
would  become  an  artistic  pleasure. 

Every  one  would  be  the  happier  for  it.  In 
collective  work,  performed  with  a  light  heart  to 
attain  a  desired  end,  a  book,  a  work  of  art,  or  an 
object  of  luxury,  each  will  find  an  incentive,  and 
the  necessary  relaxation  that  makes  life  pleasant. 

In  working  to  put  an  end  to  the  division  between 
master  and  slave,  we  work  for  the  happiness  of  both, 
for  the  happiness  of  httmanity. 


CHAPTER  X 
Agreeable  Work 


When  Socialists  declare  that  a  society,  emanci- 
pated from  Capital,  would  make  work  agreeable, 
and  would  suppress  all  repugnant  and  unhealthy 
drudgery,  they  get  laughed  at.  And  yet  even 
to-day  we  can  see  the  striking  progress  made  in  this 
direction;  and  wherever  this  progress  has  been 
achieved,  employers  congratulate  themselves  on 
the  economy  of  energy  obtained  thereby. 

It  is  evident  that  a  factory  could  be  made  as 
healthy  and  pleasant  as  a  scientific  laboratory. 
And  it  is  no  less  evident  that  it  would  be  advantageous 
to  make  it  so.  In  a  spacious  and  well-ventilated 
factory  work  is  better;  it  is  easy  to  introduce  small 
ameliorations,  of  which  each  represents  an  economy 
of  time  or  of  manual  labour.  And  if  most  of  the 
workshops  we  know  are  foul  and  unhealthy,  it 
is  because  the  workers  are  of  no  account  in  the 
organization  of  factories,  and  because  the  most 
absurd  waste  of  human  energy  is  its  distinctive 
feature. 

Nevertheless,  now  and  again,  we  already  find 
some  factories  so  well  managed  that  it  would  be  a 
real  pleasure  to  work  in  them,  if  the  work,  be  it 
well  understood,  were  not  to  last  more  than  four  or 

Z44 


Agreeable  Work  i4S 

five  hours  a  day,  and  if  every  one  had  the  possibility 
of  varying  it  according  to  his  tastes. 

Look  at  this  factory,  unfortunately  consecrated 
to  engines  of  war.  It  is  perfect  as  far  as  regards 
sanitary  and  intelligent  organization.  It  occupies 
fifty  English  acres  of  land,  fifteen  of  which  are 
roofed  with  glass.  The  pavement  of  fire-proof 
bricks  is  as  clean  as  that  of  a  miner's  cottage,  and  the 
glass  roof  is  carefully  cleaned  by  a  gang  of  workmen 
who  do  nothing  else.  In  this  factory  are  forged  steel 
ingots  or  blooms  weighing  as  much  as  twenty  tons; 
and  when  you  stand  thirty  feet  from  the  immense 
furnace,  whose  flames  have  a  temperature  of  more 
than  a  thousand  degrees,  you  do  not  guess  its 
presence  save  when  its  great  jaws  open  to  let  out 
a  steel  monster.  And  the  monster  is  handled  by 
only  three  or  four  workmen,  who  now  here,  now 
there,  open  a  tap,  causing  immense  cranes  to  move 
by  pressure  of  water  in  the  pipes. 

You  enter  expecting  to  hear  the  deafening  noise  of 
stampers,  and  you  find  that  there  are  no  stampers. 
The  immense  hundred-ton  guns  and  the  crank-shafts 
of  transatlantic  steamers  are  forged  by  hydraulic 
pressure,  and  instead  of  forging  steel,  the  worker 
has  but  to  turn  a  tap  to  give  it  shape,  which  makes 
a  far  more  homogeneous  metal,  without  crack  or 
flaw,  of  the  blooms,  whatever  be  their  thickness. 

We  expect  an  infernal  grating,  and  we  find 
machines  which  cjit  blocks  of  steel  thirty  feet  long 
with  no  more  noise  than  is  needed  to  cut  cheese. 
And  when  we  expressed  our  admiration  to  the 
engineer  who  showed  us  round,  he  answered  — 


146  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

"It  is  a  mere  question  of  economy!  This 
machine,  that  planes  steel,  has  been  in  use  for 
forty-two  years.  It  would  not  have  lasted  ten 
years  if  its  component  parts,  badly  adjusted, 
lacking  in  cohesive  strength,  'interfered'  and 
creaked  at  each  movement  of  the  plane! 

"And  the  blast-furnaces?  It  would  be  a 
waste  to  let  heat  escape  instead  of  utilizing 
it.  Why  roast  the  founders,  when  heaf  lost  by 
radiation  represents  tons  of  coal? 

"The  stampers  that  made  buildings  shake  five 
leagues  off  were  also  waste!  It  is  better  to  forge 
by  pressure  than  by  impact,  and  it  costs  less  — 
there  is  less  loss. 

"In  a  factory,  Hght,  cleanUness,  the  space 
allotted  to  each  bench,  is  but  a  simple  question  of 
economy.  Work  is  better  done  when  you  can  see 
and  you  have  elbow-room. 

"It  is  true,"  he  said,  "we  were  very  cramped 
before  coming  here.  Land  is  so  expensive  in  the 
vicinity  of  large  towns  —  landlords  are  so  grasping !  " 

It  is  even  so  in  mines.  We  know  what  mines 
are  like  nowadays  from  Zola's  descriptions  and 
from  newspaper  reports.  But  the  mine  of  the 
future  will  be  well  ventilated,  with  a  temperature 
as  easily  regulated  as  that  of  a  library;  there  will 
be  no  horses  doomed  to  die  below  the  earth; 
underground  traction  will  be  carried  on  by  means 
of  an  automatic  cable  put  in  motion  at  the  pit's 
mouth.  Ventilators  will  be  always  working,  and 
there  will  never  be  explosions.  This  is  no  dream. 
Such  a  mine  is  already  to  be  seen  in   England; 


Agreeable  Work  147 

we  went  down  it.  Here  again  this  organization 
is  simply  a  question  of  economy.  The  mine  of 
which  we  speak,  in  spite  of  its  immense  depth  (466 
yards),  has  an  output  of  a  thousand  tons  of  coal 
a  day,  with  only  two  hundred  miners  —  five  tons 
a  day  per  each  worker,  whereas  the  average  for 
the  two  thousand  pits  in  England  is  hardly  three 
hundred  tons  a  year  per  man. 

If  necessary,  we  could  multiply  examples  prov- 
ing that  Fourier's  dream  regarding  material  organi- 
zation was  not  a  Utopia. 

This  question  has,  however,  been  so  frequently 
discussed  in  Socialist  newspapers  that  public 
opinion  might  have  been  educated.  Factory, 
forge,  and  mine  can  be  as  healthy  and  magnificent  as 
the  finest  laboratories  in  modem  universities,  and 
the  better  the  organization  the  more  will  man's 
labour  produce. 

If  it  be  so,  can  we  doubt  that  work  will  become 
a  pleasure  and  a  relaxation  in  a  society  of  equals, 
in  which  "hands"  will  not  be  compelled  to  sell 
themselves  to  toil,  and  to  accept  work  under  any 
conditions?  Repugnant  tasks  will  disappear,  be- 
cause it  is  evident  that  these  unhealthy  condi- 
tions are  harmful  to  society  as  a  whole.  Slaves 
can  submit  to  them,  but  free  men  will  create  new 
conditions,  and  their  work  will  be  pleasant  and 
infinitely  more  productive.  The  exceptions  of 
to-day  will  be  the  rule  of  to-morrow. 

The  same  will  come  to  pass  as  regards  domestic 
work,  which  to-day  society  lays  on  the  shoulders 
of  that  drudge  of  humanity  —  woman. 


148  The  Conquest  of  Bread 


II 

A  society  regenerated  by  the  Revolution  will 
make  domestic  slavery  disappear  —  this  last  form 
of  slavery,  perhaps  the  most  tenacious,  because  it 
is  also  the  most  ancient.  Only  it  will  not  come 
about  in  the  way  dreamt  of  by  Phalansterians, 
nor  in  the  manner  often  imagined  by  authoritarian 
Communists. 

Phalansteries  are  repugnant  to  millions  of 
human  beings.  The  most  reserved  man  certainly 
feels  the  necessity  of  meeting  his  fellows  for  the 
purpose  of  common  work,  which  becomes  the 
more  attractive  the  more  he  feels  himself  a  part 
of  an  immense  whole.  But  it  is  not  so  for  the 
hours  of  leisure,  reserved  for  rest  and  intimacy. 
The  phalanstery  and  the  familystery  do  not 
take  this  into  account,  or  else  they  endeavour  to 
supply  this  need  by  artificial  groupings. 

A  phalanstery,  which  is  in  fact  nothing  but 
an  immense  hotel,  can  please  some,  and  even  all 
at  a  certain  period  of  their  life,  but  the  great  mass 
prefers  family  life  (family  life  of  the  future,  be 
it  understood).  They  prefer  isolated  apartments, 
Normans  and  Anglo-Saxons  even  going  as  far  as  to 
prefer  houses  of  from  six  to  eight  rooms,  in  which  the 
family,  or  an  agglomeration  of  friends,  can  live 
apart.  Sometimes  a  phalanstery  is  a  necessity, 
but  it  would  be  hateful,  were  it  the  general 
rule.  Isolation,  alternating  with  time  spent  in 
society,    is   the   normal   desire   of   human    nature. 


Agreeable  Work  149 

This  is  why  one  of  the  greatest  tortures  in  prison 
is  the  impossibility  of  isolation,  much  as  solitary 
confinement  becomes  torture  in  its  turn,  when  not 
alternated  with  hours  of  social  life. 

As  to  considerations  of  economy,  which  are 
sometimes  laid  stress  on  in  favour  of  phalansteries, 
they  are  those  of  a  petty  tradesman.  The  most 
important  economy,  the  only  reasonable  one,  is 
to  make  life  pleasant  for  all,  because  the  man  who 
is  satisfied  with  his  life  produces  infinitely  more 
than  the  man  who  curses  his  surroundings.* 

Other  Socialists  reject  the  phalanstery.  But 
when  you  ask  them  how  domestic  work  can  be 
organized,  they  answer:  "Each  can  do  'his  own 
work.'  My  wife  manages  the  house;  the  wives  of 
bourgeois  will  do  as  much."  And  if  it  is  a  bourgeois 
playing  at  Socialism  who  speaks,  he  will  add,  with 
a  gracious  smile  to  his  wife:  "Is  it  not  true,  darling, 
that  you  would  do  without  a  servant  in  a  Socialist 
society  ?  You  would  work  like  the  wife  of  our  good 
comrade  Paul  or  the  wife  of  John  the  carpenter?" 

Servant  or  wife,  man  always  reckons  on  woman 
to  do  the  house-work. 

*  It  seems  that  the  Communists  of  Young  Icaria  had  under- 
stood the  importance  of  a  free  choice  in  their  daily  relations  apart 
from  work.  The  ideal  of  religious  Communists  has  always  been 
to  have  meals  in  common;  it  is  by  meals  in  common  that  early 
Christians  manifested  their  adhesion  to  Christianity.  Com- 
munion is  still  a  vestige  of  it.  Young  Icarians  had  given  up 
this  religious  tradition.  They  dined  in  a  common  dining-room, 
but  at  small  separate  tables,  at  which  they  sat  according  to  the 
attractions  of  the  moment.  The  Communists  of  Amana  have 
each  their  house  and  dine  at  home,  while  taking  their  provisions 
at  will  at  the  communal  stores. 


ISO  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

But  woman,  too,  at  last  claims  her  share  in  the 
emancipation  of  humanity.  She  no  longer  wants 
to  be  the  beast  of  burden  of  the  house.  She  con- 
siders it  sufficient  work  to  give  many  years  of  her 
life  to  the  rearing  of  her  children.  She  no  longer 
wants  to  be  the  cook,  the  mender,  the  sweeper  of  the 
house!  And,  owing  to  American  women  taking  the 
lead  in  obtaining  their  claims,  there  is  a  general 
complaint  of  the  dearth  of  women  who  will  con- 
descend to  domestic  work  in  the  United  States. 
My  lady  prefers  art,  politics,  literature,  or  the 
gaming  tables;  as  to  the  work-girls,  they  are  few, 
those  who  consent  to  submit  to  apron-slavery,  and 
servants  are  only  found  with  difficulty  in  the  States. 
Consequently,  the  solution,  a  very  simple  one,  is 
pointed  out  by  life  itself.  Machinery  undertakes 
three-quarters  of  the  household  cares. 

You  black  your  boots,  and  you  know  how 
ridiculous  this  work  is.  What  can  be  more  stupid 
than  rubbing  a  boot  twenty  or  thirty  times  with 
a  brush?  A  tenth  of  the  European  population 
must  be  compelled  to  sell  itself  in  exchange  for  a 
miserable  shelter  and  insufficient  food,  and  woman 
must  consider  herself  a  slave,  in  order  that  millions 
of  her  sex  should  go  through  this  performance  every 
morning. 

But  hairdressers  have  already  machines  for 
brushing  glossy  or  woolly  heads  of  hair.  Why 
should  we  not  apply,  then,  the  same  principle  to 
the  other  extremity?  So  it  has  been  done,  and 
nowadays  the  machine  for  blacking  boots  is  in 
general  use  in  big  American  and  European  hotels. 


•Agreeable  Work  151 

Its  use  is  spreading  outside  hotels.  In  large 
English  schools,  where  the  pupils  are  boarding 
in  the  houses  of  the  teachers,  it  has  been  foimd 
easier  to  have  one  single  establishment  which 
undertakes  to  brush  a  thousand  pairs  of  boots 
every  morning. 

As  to  washing  up!  Where  can  we  find  a  house- 
wife who  has  not  a  horror  of  this  long  and  dirty- 
work,  that  is  usually  done  by  hand,  solely  be- 
cause the  work  of  the  domestic  slave  is  of  no 
account. 

In  America  they  do  better.  There  are  already 
a  nimiber  of  cities  in  which  hot  water  is  conveyed 
to  the  houses  as  cold  water  is  in  Europe.  Under 
these  conditions  the  problem  was  a  simple  one, 
and  a  woman  —  Mrs.  Cochrane  —  solved  it.  Her 
machine  washes  twelve  dozen  plates  or  dishes, 
wipes  them  and  dries  them,  in  less  than  three 
minutes.  A  factory  in  Illinois  manufactures  these 
machines  and  sells  them  at  a  price  within  reach 
of  the  average  middle-class  purse.  And  why 
should  not  small  households  send  their  crockery 
to  an  establishment  as  well  as  their  boots?  It 
is  even  probable  that  the  two  functions,  brushing 
and  washing  up,  will  be  undertaken  by  the  same 
association. 

Cleaning,  rubbing  the  skin  off  your  hands  when 
washing  and  wringing  linen;  sweeping  floors  and 
brushing  carpets,  thereby  raising  clouds  of  dust 
which  afterwards  occasion  much  trouble  to  dislodge 
from  the  places  where  they  have  settled  down,  all 
this  work  is  still  done  because  woman  remains  a 


152  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

slave,  but  it  tends  to  disappear  as  it  can  be  infin- 
itely better  done  by  machinery.  Machines  of  all 
kinds  will  be  introduced  into  households,  and  the 
distribution  of  motor-power  in  private  houses  will 
enable  people  to  work  them  without  muscular 
effort. 

Such  machines  cost  little  to  manufacture.  If  we 
still  pay  very  much  for  them,  it  is  because  they 
are  not  in  general  use,  and  chiefly  because  an 
exorbitant  tax  is  levied  upon  every  machine  by 
the  gentlemen  who  wish  to  Hve  in  grand  style 
and  who  have  speculated  on  land,  raw  material, 
manufacture,  sale,  patents,  and  duties. 

But  emancipation  from  domestic  toil  will  not  be 
brought  about  by  small  machines  only.  House- 
holds are  emerging  from  their  present  state  of 
isolation;  they  begin  to  associate  with  other  house- 
holds to  do  in  common  what  they  did  separately. 

In  fact,  in  the  future  we  shall  not  have  a 
brushing  machine,  a  machine  for  washing  up  plates, 
a  third  for  washing  linen,  and  so  on,  in  each  house. 
To  the  future,  on  the  contrary,  belongs  the  common 
heating  apparatus  that  sends  heat  into  each  room 
of  a  whole  district  and  spares  the  lighting  of  fires. 
It  is  already  so  in  a  few  American  cities.  A  great 
central  furnace  supplies  all  houses  and  all  rooms 
with  hot  water,  which  circulates  in  pipes;  and  to 
regulate  the  temperature  you  need  only  turn  a  tap. 
And  should  you  care  to  have  a  blazing  fire  .in  any 
particular  room  you  can  light  the  gas  specially 
supplied  for  heating  purposes  from  a  central  reser- 
voir.   All  the  immense  work  of  cleaning  chimneys 


Agreeable  Work  153 

and  keeping  up  fires  —  and  woman  knows  what  time 
it  takes  —  is  disappearing. 

Candles,  lamps,  and  even  gas  have  had  their 
day.  There  are  entire  cities  in  which  it  is  sufficient 
to  press  a  button  for  light  to  burst  forth,  and, 
indeed,  it  is  a  simple  question  of  economy  and  of 
knowledge  to  give  yourself  the  luxury  of  electric 
light.  And  lastly,  also  in  America,  they  speak  of 
forming  societies  for  the  almost  complete  suppression 
of  household  work.  It  would  only  be  necessary 
to  create  a  department  for  every  block  of  houses. 
A  cart  would  come  to  each  door  and  take  the  boots 
to  be  blacked,  the  crockery  to  be  washed  up,  the 
linen  to  be  washed,  the  small  things  to  be  mended 
(if  it  were  worth  while),  the  carpets  to  be  brushed, 
and  the  next  morning  would  bring  back  the  things 
entrusted  to  it  all  well  cleaned.  A  few  hours  later 
your  hot  coffee  and  your  eggs  done  to  a  nicety 
would  appear  on  your  table.  It  is  a  fact  that 
between  twelve  and  two  o'clock  there  are  more  than 
twenty  million  Americans  and  as  many  Englishmen 
who  eat  roast  beef  or  mutton,  boiled  pork,  potatoes, 
and  a  seasonable  vegetable.  And  at  the  lowest 
figure  eight  milUon  fires  bum  during  two  or  three 
hours  to  roast  this  meat  and  cook  these  vegetables ; 
eight  million  women  spend  their  time  to  prepare 
this  meal,  that  perhaps  consists  at  most  of  ten 
different  dishes. 

"Fifty  fires  bum,"  wrote  an  American  woman 
the  other  day,  "where  one  would  suffice!"  Dine 
at  home,  at  your  own  table,  with  your  children,  if 
you  like ;  but  only  think  yourself,  why  should  these 


154  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

fifty  women  waste  their  whole  morning  to  prepare 
a  few  cups  of  coffee  and  a  simple  meal!  Why  fifty 
fires,  when  two  people  and  one  single  fire  would 
suffice  to  cook  all  these  pieces  of  meat  and  all  these 
vegetables  ?  Choose  your  own  beef  or  mutton  to  be 
roasted  if  you  are  particular.  Season  the  vegetables 
to  your  taste  if  you  prefer  a  particular  sauce!  But 
have  a  single  kitchen  with  a  single  fire,  and 
organize  it  as  beautifully  as  you  are  able  to. 

Why  has  woman's  work  never  been  of  any 
account  ?  Why  in  every  family  are  the  mother  and 
three  or  four  servants  obliged  to  spend  so  much 
time  at  what  pertains  to  cooking?  Because  those 
who  want  to  emancipate  mankind  have  not 
included  woman  in  their  dream  of  emancipation, 
and  consider  it  beneath  their  superior  mascuHne 
dignity  to  think  "of  those  kitchen  arrangements," 
which  they  have  layed  on  the  shoulders  of  that 
drudge  —  woman. 

To  emancipate  woman  is  not  only  to  open  the 
gates  of  the  university,  the  law  courts,  or  the  parlia- 
ments, for  her,  for  the  "emancipated"  woman  will 
always  throw  domestic  toil  on  to  another  woman. 
To  emancipate  woman  is  to  free  her  from  the 
brutalizing  toil  of  kitchen  and  washhouse;  it  is  to 
organize  your  household  in  such  a  way  as  to 
enable  her  to  rear  her  children,  if  she  be  so  minded, 
while  still  retaining  sufficient  leisure  to  take  her 
share  of  social  Hfe. 

It  will  come  to  pass.  As  we  have  said,  things 
are  already  improving.  Only  let  us  fully  under- 
stand   that    a    revolution,    intoxicated    with    the 


Agreeable  Work  155 

beautiful  words  Liberty,  Equality,  Solidarity 
would  not  be  a  revolution  if  it  maintained  slavery 
at  home.  Half  humanity  subjected  to  the  slavery 
of  the  hearth  would  still  have  to  rebel  against  the 
other  half. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Free  Agreement 


Accustomed  as  we  are  by  hereditary  prejudices 
and  absolutely  unsound  education  and  training  to 
see  Government,  legislation  and  magistracy  every- 
where around,  we  have  come  to  believe  that  man 
would  tear  his  fellow-man  to  pieces  like  a  wild 
beast  the  day  the  police  took  his  eye  off  him; 
that  chaos  would  come  about  if  authority  were 
overthrown  during  a  revolution.  And  with  our 
eyes  shut  we  pass  by  thousands  and  thousands  of 
human  groupings  which  form  themselves  freely, 
without  any  intervention  of  the  law,  and  attain 
results  infinitely  superior  to  those  achieved  under 
governmental  tutelage. 

If  you  open  a  daily  paper  you  find  its  pages  are 
entirely  devoted  to  Government  transactions  and 
to  political  jobbery.  A  Chinaman  reading  it  would 
believe  that  in  Europe  nothing  gets  done  save  by 
order  of  some  master.  You  find  nothing  in  them 
about  institutions  that  spring  up,  grow  up,  and 
develop  without  ministerial  prescription.     Nothing 

—  or  hardly  nothing !     Even  when  there  is  a  heading 

—  "Sundry  Events" — it  is  because  they  are  con- 
nected with  the  police;     A  family  drama,  an  act 

is6 


Free  Agreement  iS7 

of  rebellion,  will  only  be  mentioned  if  the  police 
have  appeared  on  the  scene. 

Three  hundred  and  fifty  million  Europeans  love 
or  hate  one  another,  work,  or  live  on  their  incomes ; 
but,  apart  from  literature,  theatre,  or  sport,  their 
lives  remain  ignored  by  newspapers  if  Governments 
have  not  intervened  in  some  way  or  other.  It  is 
even  so  with  history.  We  know  the  least  details 
of  the  life  of  a  king  or  of  a  parliament;  all  good 
and  bad  speeches  pronounced  by  the  politicians 
have  been  preserved.  "  Speeches  that  have  never 
had  the  least  influence  on  the  vote  of  a  single  mem- 
ber," as  an  old  parliamentarian  said.  Royal  visits, 
good  or  bad  humour  of  politicians,  jokes  or  intrigues, 
are  all  carefully  recorded  for  posterity.  But  we 
have  the  greatest  difficulty  to  reconstitute  a  city 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  to  understand  the  mechanism 
of  that  immense  commerce  that  was  carried  on 
between  Hanseatic  cities,  or  to  know  how  the  city 
of  Rouen  built  its  cathedral.  If  a  scholar  spends 
his  life  in  studying  these  questions,  his  works  remain 
unknown,  and  parliamentary  histories  —  that  is 
to  say,  the  defective  ones,  as  they  only  treat  of  one 
side  of  social  life  —  multiply,  are  circulated,  are 
taught  in  schools. 

And  we  do  not  even  perceive  the  prodigious  work 
accomplished  every  day  by  spontaneous  groups 
of  men,  which  constitutes  the  chief  work  of  our 
century. 

We  therefore  propose  to  point  out  some  of  these 
most  striking  manifestations,  and  to  prove  that 
men,  as  soon  as  their  interests  do  not  absolutely 


158  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

clash,  act  in  concert,  harmoniously,  and  perform 
collective  work  of  a  very  complex  nature. 

It  is  evident  that  in  present  society,  based  on 
individual  property  —  that  is  to  say,  on  plunder, 
and  on  a  narrow-minded  and  therefore  foolish 
individualism  —  facts  of  this  kind  are  necessarily 
few  in  number;  agreements  are  not  always  perfectly 
free,  and  often  have  a  mean,  if  not  execrable  aim. 

But  what  concerns  us  is  not  to  give  examples 
which  we  could  blindly  follow,  and  which,  more- 
over, present  society  could  not  possibly  give  us. 
What  we  have  to  do  is  to  prove  that,  in  spite  of  the 
authoritarian  individualism  which  stifles  us,  there 
remains  in  our  life,  taken  as  a  whole,  a  great  part  in 
which  we  only  act  by  free  agreement,  and  that  it 
would  be  much  easier  than  we  think  to  dispense 
with  Grovemment. 

In  support  of  our  view  we  have  already  men- 
tioned railways,  and  we  are  about  to  return  to  them. 

We  know  that  Europe  has  a  system  of  railways, 
175,000  miles  long,  and  that  on  this  network  you 
can  nowadays  travel  from  north  to  south,  from 
east  to  west,  from  Madrid  to  Petersburg,  and  from 
Calais  to  Constantinople,  without  stoppages,  with- 
out even  changing  carriages  (when  you  travel  by 
express).  More  than  that:  a  parcel  thrown  into 
a  station  will  find  its  addressee  anywhere,  in  Turkey 
or  in  Central  Asia,  without  more  formality  needed 
for  sending  it  than  writing  its  destination  on  a  bit 
of  paper. 

This  result  might  have  been  obtained  in  two 
ways.     A  Napoleon,  a  Bismarck,  or  some  potentate 


Free  Agreement  159 

having  conquered  Europe,  would  from  Paris, 
Berlin,  or  Rome,  draw  a  railway  map  and  regulate 
the  hours  of  the  trains.  The  Russian  Tsar  Nicholas 
I  dreamt  of  taking  such  action.  When  he  was 
shown  rough  drafts  of  railways  between  Moscow 
and  Petersburg,  he  seized  a  ruler  and  drew  on 
the  map  of  Russia  a  straight  line  between  these  two 
capitals,  saying,  "Here  is  the  plan."  And  the 
road  was  built  in  a  straight  line,  filling  in  deep 
ravines,  building  bridges  of  a  giddy  height,  which 
had  to  be  abandoned  a  few  years  later,  at  a  cost  of 
about  ;^i  20,000  to  ;^i  50,000  per  English  mile. 

This  is  one  way,  but  happily  things  were 
managed  differently.  Railways  were  constructed 
piece  by  piece,  the  pieces  were  joined  together, 
and  the  hundred  divers  companies,  to  whom  these 
pieces  belonged,  came  to  an  understanding  con- 
cerning the  arrival  and  departure  of  their  trains, 
and  the  running  of  carriages  on  their  rails,  from 
all  countries,  without  unloading  merchandise  as 
it  passes  from  one  network  to  another. 

All  this  was  done  by  free  agreement,  by  exchange 
of  letters  and  proposals,  by  congresses  at  which 
delegates  met  to  discuss  certain  special  subjects^ 
but  not  to  make  laws;  after  the  congress,  the  dele- 
gates returned  to  their  companies,  not  with  a  law, 
but  with  the  draft  of  a  contract  to  be  accepted  or 
rejected. 

There  were  certainly  obstinate  men  who  would  not 
be  convinced.  But  a  common  interest  compelled 
them  to  agree  without  invoking  the  help  of  armies 
against  the  refractory  members 


.  i6o  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

This  immense  network  of  railways  connected 
together,  and  the  enormous  traffic  it  has  given  rise 
to,  no  doubt  constitutes  the  most  striking  trait  of 
our  century;  and  it  is  the  result  of  free  agreement. 
If  a  man  had  foreseen  or  predicted  it  fifty  years 
ago,  our  grandfathers  would  have  thought  him 
idiotic  or  mad.  They  would  have  said:  "Never 
will  you  be  able  to  make  the  shareholders  of  a 
hundred  companies  listen  to  reason!  It  is  a  Utopia, 
a  fairy  tale.  A  central  Government,  with  an  'iron' 
director,  can  alone  enforce  it." 

And  the  most  interesting  thing  in  this  organi- 
zation is,  that  there  is  no  European  Central 
Government  of  Railways!  Nothing!  No  minister 
of  railways,  no  dictator,  not  even  a  continental 
parliament,  not  even  a  directing  committee! 
Everything  is  done  by  contract. 

So  we  ask  the  believers  in  the  State,  who  pre- 
tend that  "we  can  never  do  without  a  central 
Government,  were  it  only  for  regulating  the  traffic," 
we  ask  them:  "But  how  do  Europesin  railways 
manage  without  them?  How  do  they  continue  to 
convey  millions  of  travellers  and  mountains  of 
luggage  across  a  continent?  If  companies  owning 
railways  have  been  able  to  agree,  why  should 
railway  workers,  who  would  take  possession  of 
railways,  not  agree  likewise?  And  if  the  Peters- 
burg-Warsaw Company  and  that  of  Paris-Belfort 
can  act  in  harmony,  without  giving  themselves  the 
luxury  of  a  common  commander,  why,  in  the  midst 
of  our  societies,  consisting  of  groups  of  free  workers, 
should  we  need  a  Government?" 


Free  Agreement  161 


II 

When  we  endeavour  to  prove  by  examples  that 
even  to-day,  in  spite  of  the  iniquitous  organization 
of  society  as  a  whole,  men,  provided  their  instincts 
be  not  diametrically  opposed,  agree  without  the 
intervention  of  authority,  we  do  not  ignore  the 
objections  that  will  be  put  forth. 

These  examples  have  their  defective  side,  because 
it  is  impossible  to  quote  a  single  organization 
exempt  from  the  exploitation  of  the  weak  by  the 
strong,  the  poor  by  the  rich.  That  is  why  Statists 
will  not  fail  to  tell  us  with  their  wonted  logic: 
"You  see  that  the  intervention  of  the  State  is 
necessary  to  put  an  end  to  this  exploitation!" 

Only  they  forget  the  lessons  of  history;  they  do 
not  tell  us  to  what  extent  the  State  itself  has  con- 
tributed towards  the  existing  order  by  creating  pro- 
letarians and  delivering  them  up  to  exploiters. 
They  also  forget  to  tell  us  if  it  is  possible  to  put  an 
end  to  exploitation  while  the  primal  causes  —  pri- 
vate capital  and  poverty,  two-thirds  of  which  are 
artificially  created  by  the  State  —  continue  to  exist. 

As  regards  the  complete  harmony  among  railway 
companies,  we  expect  them  to  say:  "Do  you  not 
see  railway  companies  oppress  and  ill-use  their 
employers  and  their  travellers!  The  State  must 
intervene  to  protect  the  public!" 

But  have  we  not  often  repeated  that  as  long  as 
there  are  capitalists,  this  abuse  of  power  will  be  per- 
petuated.    It  is  precisely  the  State,  the  would-be 


i62  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

benefactor,  that  has  given  to  the  companies  that 
monopoly  which  they  possess  to-day.  Has  it  not 
created  concessions,  guarantees?  Has  it  not  sent 
its  soldiers  against  railwaymen  on  strike?  And 
during  the  first  trials  (we  see  it  in  Russia),  has 
it  not  extended  the  privilege  to  forbidding  the 
press  mentioning  railway  accidents,  so  as  not  to 
depreciate  the  shares  it  guaranteed?  Has  it  not 
favoured  the  monopoly  which  has  anointed  the 
Vanderbilts  and  the  Polyakoffs,  the  directors  of 
the  P.L.M.,  the  C.P.R.,  the  St.  Gothard,  "the  kings 
of  the  times"? 

Therefore,  if  we  give  as  an  example  the  tacit 
agreement  come  to  between  railway  companies,  it 
is  by  no  means  as  an  ideal  of  economical  manage- 
ment, nor  even  an  ideal  of  technical  organization. 
It  is  to  show  that  if  capitalists,  without  any  other 
aim  than  that  of  augmenting  their  dividends  at 
other  people's  expense,  can  exploit  railways  success- 
fully without  establishing  an  International  Depart- 
ment, societies  of  working  men  will  be  able  to  do 
it  just  as  well,  and  even  better,  without  nominating 
a  Ministry  of  European  railways. 

Another  objection  is  raised  that  is  more  serious 
at  first  sight.  We  may  be  told  that  the  agreement 
we  speak  of  is  not  perfectly  free,  that  the  large 
companies  lay  down  the  law  to  the  small  ones. 
They  might,  for  example,  quote  a  certain  rich  com- 
pany compelling  travellers  who  go  from  Berlin  to 
Bile  to  pass  via  Cologne  and  Frankfort,  instead 
of  taking  the  Leipzig  route;  a  second,  carrying 
goods  sixty  or  a  hundred  and  thirty  miles  in  a 


Free  Agreement  163 

roundabout  way  (on  long  distances)  to  favour 
influential  shareholders;  a  third,  ruining  secondary 
lines.  In  the  United  States  travellers  and  goods 
are  sometimes  compelled  to  travel  impossibly  cir- 
cuitous routes  so  that  dollars  may  flow  into  the 
pocket  of  a  Vanderbilt. 

Our  answer  will  be  the  same:  As  long  as  Cap- 
ital exists,  the  greater'  Capital  will  oppress  the 
lesser.  But  oppression  does  not  result  from  Cap- 
ital only.  It  is  also  owing  to  the  support  given 
them  by  the  State,  to  monopoly  created  by  the 
State  in  their  favour,  that  certain  large  companies 
oppress  the  little  ones. 

The  early  SociaHsts  have  shown  how  English 
legislation  did  all  in  its  powers  to  ruin  small  indus- 
tries, drive  the  peasant  to  poverty,  and  deHver 
over  to  wealthy  industrial  employers  battalions 
of  men,  compelled  to  work  for  no  matter  what 
salary.  Railway  legislation  did  exactly  the  same. 
Strategic  lines,  subsidized  lines,  companies  which 
received  the  International  Mail  monopoly,  every- 
thing was  brought  into  play  to  forward  wealthy 
financiers'  interests.  When  Rothschild,  creditor  to 
all  European  States,  puts  capital  in  a  railway,  his 
faithful  subjects,  the  ministers,  will  do  their  best 
to  make  him  earn  more. 

In  the  United  States,  in  the  Democracy  that 
authoritarians  hold  up  to  us  as  an  ideal,  the  most 
scandalous  fraudulency  has  crept  into  everything 
that  concerns  railroads.  Thus,  if  a  company  ruins 
its  competitors  by  cheap  fares,  it  is  often  enabled 
to  do  so  because  it  is  reimbiursed  by  land  given  to 


x64  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

it  by  the  State  for  a  gratuity.  Documents  recently 
published  concerning  the  American  wheat  trade  have 
fully  shown  up  the  part  played  by  the  State  in  the 
exploitation  of  the  weak  by  the  strong.  Here, 
too,  the  power  of  accumulated  capital  has  grown 
tenfold  and  a  hundredfold  by  State  help.  So  that, 
when  we  see  syndicates  of  railway  companies  (a 
product  of  free  agreement)  succeeding  in  protecting 
their  small  companies  against  big  ones,  we  are 
astonished  at  the  intrinsic  force  of  free  agreement 
that  can  hold  its  own  against  all-powerful  Capital 
favoured  by  the  State. 

It  is  a  fact  that  little  companies  exist,  in  spite 
of  the  State's  partiality.  If  in  France,  land  of 
centralization,  we  only  see  five  or  six  large  com- 
panies, there  are  more  than  a  hundred  and  ten  in 
Great  Britain  who  agree  remarkably  well,  and 
who  are  certainly  better  organized  for  the  rapid 
transit  of  travellers  and  goods  than  the  French  and 
German  companies. 

Moreover,  that  is  not  the  question.  Large 
Capital,  favoured  by  the  State,  can  always,  if  it 
he  to  its  advantage,  crush  the  lesser  one.  What  is 
of  importance  to  us  is  this :  The  agreement  betwe.en 
hundreds  of  companies  to  whom  the  railways  of 
Europe  belong,  was  established  without  intervention 
of  a  central  government  laying  down  the  law  to  the 
divers  societies;  it  has  subsisted  by  means  of  con- 
gresses composed  of  delegates,  who  discuss  among 
themselves,  and  submit  proposals,  not  laws,  to 
their  constituents.  It  is  a  new  principle  that  dif- 
fers completely  from   all   governmental    principle, 


Free  Agreement  165 

monarchical  or  republican,  absolute  or  parliamen- 
tarian. It  is  an  innovation  that  has  been 
timidly  introduced  into  the  customs  of  Europe, 
but  has  come  to  stay. 

Ill 

How  often  have  we  not  read  in  the  writings  of 
State-loving  Socialists:  "Who,  then,  will  undertake 
the  regulation  of  canal  traffic  in  future  society? 
Should  it  enter  the  mind  of  one  of  your  Anarchist 
'comrades'  to  put  his  barge  across  a  canal  and 
obstruct  thousands  of  boats,  who  will  force  him 
to  yield  to  reason?" 

Let  us  confess  the  supposition  to  be  somewhat 
fanciful,  yet  it  might  be  said,  for  instance:  "Should 
a  certain  commune,  or  a  group  of  communes,  want 
to  make  their  barges  pass  before  others,  they  might 
perhaps  block  the  canal  in  order  to  carry  stones, 
while  wheat,  needed  in  another  commune,  would 
have  to  stand  by.  Who,  then,  would  regulate  the 
barge  traffic  if  not  the  Grovemment?" 

But  real  life  has  again  demonstrated  that 
Government  can  be  very  well  dispensed  with  here 
as  elsewhere.  Free  agreement,  free  organization, 
replace  that  noxious  and  costly  system,  and  do 
better. 

We  know  what  canals  mean  to  Holland.  They 
are  its  highways.  We  also  know  how  much  traffic 
there  is  on  the  canals.  What  is  carried  along  our 
highroads  and  railroads  is  transported  on  canal- 
boats  in  Holland.    There  you  could  find  cause  to 


i66  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

fight,  to  make  your  boats  pass  before  others.  There 
the  Government  might  really  interfere  to  keep  the 
traffic  in  order. 

Yet  it  is  not  so.  The  Dutch  settled  matters  in 
a  more  practical  way,  long  ago,  by  founding  a  kind 
of  guilds,  or  syndicates  of  boatmen.  These  were 
free  associations  sprung  from  the  very  needs  of 
navigation.  The  right  of  way  for  the  boats  was 
adjusted  by  a  certain  registered  order;  they 
followed  one  another  in  turn.  None  were  allowed 
to  get  ahead  of  the  others  under  pain  of  being 
excluded  from  the  guild.  None  could  station  more 
than  a  certain  number  of  days  along  the  quay, 
and  if  the  owner  found  no  goods  to  carry  during 
that  time,  so  much  the  worse  for  him;  he  had  to 
depart  with  his  empty  barge  to  leave  room  for 
newcomers.  Obstruction  was  thus  avoided,  even 
though  the  competition  between  the  private  owners 
of  the  boats  continued  to  exist.  Were  the  latter 
suppressed,  the  agreement  would  have  been  only 
the  more  cordial.  It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  the 
shipowners  could  adhere  or  not  to  the  syndicate. 
That  was  their  business,  but  most  of  them  elected 
to  join  it.  Moreover,  these  syndicates  offered  such 
great  advantages  that  they  spread  also  along  the 
Rhine,  the  Weser,  the  Oder,  and  as  far  as  Berlin. 
The  boatmen  did  not  wait  for  a  great  Bismarck  to 
annex  Holland  to  Germany,  and  to  appoint  an  Ober 
Haupt  General  Staats  Canal  Navigations  Rath 
(Supreme  Head  Councillor  of  the  General  States 
Canal  Navigation),  with  a  number  of  stripes 
corresponding   to    the   length   of   the   title.     They 


Free  Agreement  167 

preferred  coming  to  an  international  understanding. 
Besides,  a  number  of  shipowners,  whose  sailing- 
vessels  ply  between  Germany  and  Scandinavia, 
as  well  as  Russia,  have  also  joined  these  syndicates, 
in  order  to  regulate  traffic  in  the  Baltic  and  to  bring 
about  a  certain  harmony  in  the  chasse-croise  of 
vessels.  These  associations  have  sprung  up  freely, 
recruiting  volunteer  adherents,  and  have  nought 
in  common  with  governments. 

It  is,  however,  more  than  probable  that  here 
too  greater  capital  oppresses  lesser.  Maybe  the 
syndicate  has  also  a  tendency  to  become  a  mono- 
poly, especially  where  it  receives  the  precious 
patronage  of  the  State  that  will  not  fail  to  inter- 
fere with  it.  Let  us  not  forget  either  that  these 
syndicates  represent  associations  whose  members 
have  only  private  interests  at  stake,  and  that  if 
at  the  same  time  each  shipowner  were  compelled 
—  by  the  socializing  of  production,  consumption, 
and  exchange  —  to  belong  to  a  hundred  other 
associations  for  the  satisfying  of  his  needs,  things 
would  have  a  different  aspect.  A  group  of  ship- 
owners, powerful  on  sea,  would  feel  weak  on  land, 
and  they  would  be  obliged  to  lessen  their  claims 
in  order  to  come  to  terms  with  railways,  factories, 
and  other  groups. 

At  any  rate,  without  discussing  the  future,  here 
is  another  spontaneous  association  that  has  dis- 
pensed with  Government.  Let  us  quote  more 
examples. 

As  we  are  talking  of  ships  and  boats,  let  us 
mention   one   of   the   most   splendid   organizations 


i68  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

that  our  century  has  brought  forth,  one  of  those 
we  may  with  right  be  proud  of  —  the  EngHsh 
Lifeboat  Association. 

It  is  known  that  every  year  more  than  a 
thousand  ships  are  wrecked  on  the  shores  of 
England.  At  sea  a  good  ship  seldom  fears  a 
storm.  It  is  near  the  coasts  that  danger  threatens 
—  rough  seas  that  shatter  her  stem-post,  squalls 
that  carry  off  her  masts  and  sails,  currents  that 
render  her  unmanageable,  reefs  and  sand  banks 
on  which  she  runs  aground. 

Even  in  olden  times,  when  it  was  a  custom  among 
inhabitants  of  the  coasts  to  light  fires  in  order  to 
attract  vessels  on  to  reefs,  and  to  seize  their  cargoes, 
they  always  strove  to  save  the  crew.  Seeing  a 
ship  in  distress,  they  launched  their  nutshells  and 
went  to  the  rescue  of  shipwrecked  sailors,  only  too 
often  finding  a  watery  grave  themselves.  Every 
hamlet  along  the  seashore  has  its  legends  of  heroism, 
displayed  by  woman  as  well  as  by  man,  to  save 
crews  in  distress. 

No  doubt  the  State  and  men  of  science  have  done 
something  to  diminish  the  number  of  casualties. 
Lighthouses,  signals,  charts,  meteorological  warnings 
have  diminished  them  greatly,  but  there  remain 
a  thousand  ships  and  several  thousand  human  lives 
to  be  saved  every  year. 

To  this  end  a  few  men  of  goodwill  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel.  Being  good  sailors  and 
navigators  themselves,  they  invented  a  lifeboat 
that  could  weather  a  storm  without  being  torn 
to  pieces  or  capsizing,   and   they  set  to  work  to 


Free  Agreement  i6g 

interest  the  public  in  their  venture,  to  collect  the 
necessary  funds  for  constructing  boats,  and  for 
stationing  them  along  the  coasts,  wherever  they 
could  be  of  use. 

These  men,  not  being  Jacobins,  did  not  turn 
to  the  Government.  They  understood  that  to 
bring  their  enterprise  to  a  successful  issue  they 
must  have  the  co-operation,  the  enthusiasm,  the 
local  knowledge,  and  especially  the  self-sacrifice 
of  sailors.  They  also  understood  that  to  find 
men  who  at  the  first  signal  would  launch  their 
boat  at  night,  in  a  chaos  of  waves,  not  suffering 
themselves  to  be  deterred  by  darkness  or  breakers, 
and  struggUng  five,  six,  ten  hours  against  the 
tide  before  reaching  a  vessel  in  distress  —  men 
ready  to  risk  their  lives  to  save  those  of  others, 
there  must  be  a  feeling  of  solidarity,  a  spirit  of 
sacrifice  not  to  be  bought  with  galloon.  It  was 
therefore  a  perfectly  spontaneous  movement, 
sprung  from  agreement  and  individual  initiative. 
Hundreds  of  local  groups  arose  along  the  coasts. 
The  initiators  had  the  common  sense  not  to  pose 
as  masters.  They  looked  for  sagacity  in  the 
fishermen's  hamlets,  and  when  a  lord  sent  ;£iooo 
to  a  village  on  the  coast  to  erect  a -lifeboat  station, 
and  his  offer  was  accepted,  he  left  the  choice  of 
a  site  to  the  local  fisherman  and  sailors. 

Models  of  new  boats  were  not  submitted  to  the 
Admiralty.  We  read  in  a  Report  of  the  Association : 
"As  it  is  of  importance  that  lifeboatmen  should 
have  full  confidence  in  the  vessel  they  man,  the 
Committee  will  make  a  point  of  constructing  and 


1 7°  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

equipping  the  boats  according  to  the  lifeboatmen's 
expressed  wish."  In  consequence  every  year  brings 
with  it  new  improvements. 

The  work  is  wholly  conducted  by  volunteers 
organizing  in  committees  and  local  groups;  by 
mutual  aid  and  agreement !  —  Oh,  Anarchists !  — 
Moreover,  they  ask  nothing  of  ratepayers,  and 
in  a  year  they  may  receive  ;^4o,ooo  in  spontaneous 
subscriptions. 

As  to  the  results,  here  they  are:  In  1891  the 
Association  possessed  293  lifeboats.  The  same  year 
it  saved  601  shipwrecked  sailors  and  33  vessels. 
Since  its  foundation  it  has  saved  32,671  human 
beings. 

In  1886,  three  lifeboats  with  all  their  men  hav- 
ing perished  at  sea,  hundreds  of  new  volunteers 
entered  their  names,  organized  themselves  into 
local  groups,  and  the  agitation  resulted  in  the 
construction  of  twenty  additional  boats.  As  we 
proceed,  let  us  note  that  every  year  the  Associa- 
tion sends  to  the  fishermen  and  sailors  excellent 
barometers,  at  a  price  three  times  less  than  their 
sale  price.  It  propagates  meteorological  know- 
ledge, and  warns  the  parties  concerned  of  the 
sudden  changes  predicted  by  men  of  science. 

Let  us  repeat  that  these  hundreds  of  committees 
and  local  groups  are  not  organized  hierarchically, 
and  are  composed  exclusively  of  volunteers,  life- 
boatmen,  and  people  interested  in  the  work.  The 
Central  Committee,  which  is  more  of  a  centre  for 
correspondence,  in  no  wise  interferes. 

It  is  true  that  when  voting  on  a  question  of 


Free  Agreement  171 

education  or  local  taxation  takes  place  in  a 
district,  these  committees  do  not,  as  such,  take 
part  in  the  deliberations,  a  modesty,  which  unfor- 
tunately the  members  of  elected  bodies  do  not 
imitate.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  these  brave 
men  do  not  allow  those  who  have  never  faced 
a  storm  to  legislate  for  them  ubout  saving  life. 
At  the  first  signal  of  distress  they  rush  forth,  con- 
cert, and  go  ahead.  There  are  no  galloons,  but 
much  goodwill. 

Let  us  take  another  society  of  the  same  kind, 
that  of  the  Red  Cross.  The  name  matters  Uttle; 
let  us  examine  it. 

Imagine  somebody  saying  twenty-five  years  ago: 
"The  State,  capable  as  it  is  of  massacring  twenty 
thousand  men  in  a  day,  and  of  wounding  fifty 
thousand  more,  is  incapable  of  helping  its  own 
victims;  as  long  as  war  exists  private  initiative 
must  intervene,  and  men  of  goodwill  must  organize 
internationally  for  this  humane  work!"  What 
mockery  would  not  have  met  the  man  who  would 
have  dared  thus  to  speak!  To  begin  with  he  would 
have  been  called  Utopian,  and  if  that  did  not  silence 
him  he  would  have  been  told:  "Volunteers  will 
be  found  wanting  precisely  where  they  are  most 
needed,  your  hospitals  will  be  centralized  in  a  safe 
place,  while  what  is  indispensable  will  be  wanting 
in  the  ambulances.  National  rivalry  will  cause 
poor  soldiers  to  die  without  help."  Disheartening 
remarks  are  only  equalled  by  the  number  of  speak- 
ers. Who  of  us  has  not  heard  men  hold  forth  in 
this  strain? 


172  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

Now  we  know  what  happened.  Red  Cross  soci- 
eties organized  themselves  freely,  everywhere,  in 
all  countries,  in  thousands  of  localities;  and  when 
the  war  of  1 8  70-1  broke  out,  the  volunteers  set  to 
work.  Men  and  women  offered  their  services. 
Thousands  of  hospitals  and  ambulances  were 
organized ;  trains  -Cvere  started  carrying  ambulances, 
provisions,  linen,  and  medicaments  for  the 
wounded.  The  English  committees  sent  entire 
convoys  of  food,  clothing,  tools,  grain  to  sow, 
beasts  of  draught,  even  steam-ploughs  with  their 
attendants  to  help  in  the  tillage  of  departments 
devastated  by  the  war!  Only  consult  La  Croix 
Rouge,  by  Gustave  Moynier,  and  you  will  be  really 
struck  by  the  immensity  of  the  work  performed. 

As  to  the  prophets  ever  ready  to  deny  other 
men's  courage,  good  sense,  and  intelligence,  and 
believing  themselves  to  be  the  only  ones  capable 
of  ruling  the  world  with  a  rod,  none  of  their  pre- 
dictions were  realized.  The  devotion  of  the  Red 
Cross  volunteers  was  beyond  all  praise.  They 
were  only  too  glad  to  occupy  the  most  dangerous 
posts;  and  whereas  the  salaried  doctors  of  the 
State  fled  with  their  staff  when  the  Prussians 
approached,  the  Red  Cross  volunteers  continued 
their  work  under  fire,  enduring  the  brutalities  of 
Bismarck's  and  Napoleon's  officers,  lavishing  their 
care  on  the  wounded  of  all  nationalities.  Dutch, 
Italians,  Swedes,  Belgians,  even  Japanese  and 
Chinese  agreed  remarkably  well.  They  distributed 
their  hospitals  and  their  ambulances  according 
to    the    needs    of    the    occasion.     They    vied    with 


Free  Agreement  173 

one  another  especially  in  the  hygiene  of  their  hos- 
pitals And  there  is  many  a  Frenchman  who 
still  speaks  with  deep  gratitude  of  the  tender  care 
he  received  from  a  Dutch  or  German  volunteer  in 
the  Red  Cross  ambulances.  But  what  is  this  to 
an  authoritarian?  His  ideal  is  the  regiment  doctor, 
salaried  by  the  State.  What  does  he  care  for  the 
Red  Cross  and  its  hygienic  hospitals,  if  the  nurses 
be  not  functionaries? 

Here  is  then  an  organization,  sprung  up  but 
yesterday,  and  which  reckons  its  members  by 
hundreds  of  thousands;  possesses  ambulances,  hos- 
pital trains,  elaborates  new  processes  for  treating 
wounds,  and  so  on,  and  is  due  to  the  spontaneous 
initiative  of  a  few  devoted  men. 

Perhaps  we  shall  be  told  that  the  State  has 
something  to  do  with  this  organization.  Yes, 
States  have  laid  hands  on  it  to  seize  it.  The  direct- 
ing committees  are  presided  over  by  those  whom 
flunkeys  call  princes  of  the  blood.  Emperors  and 
queens  lavishly  patronize  the  national  committees. 
But  it  is  not  to  this  patronage  that  the  success  of 
the  organization  is  due.  It  is  to  the  thousand 
local  committees  of  each  nation ;  to  the  activity  of 
individuals,  to  the  devotion  of  all  those  who  try  to 
help  the  victims  of  war.  And  this  devotion  would 
be  far  greater  if  the  State  did  not  meddle  vvith  it. 

In  any  case,  it  was  not  by  the  order  of  an  Inter- 
national Directing  Committee  that  Englishmen  and 
Japanese,  Swedes  and  Chinamen,  bestirred  them- 
selves to  send  help  to  the  wounded  in  1871.  It 
was  not  by  order  of  an  international  ministry  that 


174  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

hospitals  rose  on  the  invaded  territory  and  that 
ambulances  were  carried  on  to  the  battlefield. 
It  was  by  the  initiative  of  volunteefs  from 
each  country.  Once  on  the  spot,  they  did  not  get 
hold  of  one  another  by  the  hair  as  foreseen  by 
Jacobins;  they  all  set  to  work  without  distinction 
of  nationality. 

We  may  regret  that  such  great  efforts  should  be 
put  to  the  service  of  so  bad  a  cause,  and  ask  our- 
selves like  the  poet's  child:  "Why  inflict  wounds 
if  you  are  to  heal  them  afterwards?"  In  striving 
to  destroy  the  power  of  capital  and  bourgeois 
authority,  we  work  to  put  an  end  to  massacres, 
and  we  would  far  rather  see  the  Red  Cross  volun- 
teers put  forth  their  activity  to  bring  about  (with 
us)  the  suppression  of  war;  but  we  had  to  mention 
this  immense  organization  as  another  illustration 
of  results  produced  by  free  agreement  and  free  aid. 

If  we  wished  to  multiply  examples  taken  from 
the  art  of  exterminating  men  we  should  never  end. 
Suffice  to  quote  the  nimierous  societies  to  which 
the  German  army  owes  its  force,  that  does  not 
only  depend  on  discipline,  as  is  generally  believed. 
I  mean  the  societies  whose  aim  is  to  propagate 
military  knowledge. 

At  one  of  the  last  congresses  of  the  Military 
Alliance  (Kriegerbund),  delegates  from  2452  fed- 
erated societies,  comprising  151,712  members,  were 
present.  But  there  are  besides  very  numerous 
Shooting,  Military  Games,  Strategical  Games,  Topo- 
graphical Studies  Societies  —  these  are  the  work- 
shops  in   which   the   technical   knowledge   of    the 


Free  Agreement  175 

German  army  is  developed,  not  in  regimental 
schools.  It  is  a  formidable  network  of  all  kinds 
of  societies,  including  military  men  and  civilians, 
geographers  and  gymnasts,  sportsmen  and  tech- 
nologists, which  rise  up  spontaneously,  organize, 
federate,  discuss,  and  explore  the  country.  It  is 
these  voluntary  and  free  associations  that  make 
up  the  real  backbone  of  the  German  army. 

Their  aim  is  execrable.  It  is  the  maintenance 
of  the  Empire.  But  what  concerns  us,  is  to  point 
out  that,  in  spite  of  military  organization  being 
the  "Great  mission"  of  the  State,  success  in  this 
branch  is  the  more  certain  the  more  it  is  left 
to  the  free  agreement  of  groups  and  to  the  free 
initiative  of  individuals. 

Even  in  matters  pertaining  to  war,  free  agree- 
ment is  thus  appealed  to;  and  to  further  prove 
our  assertion  let  us  mention  the  three  hundred 
thousand  British  volunteers,  the  British  National 
Artillery  Association,  and  the  Society,  now  in 
course  of  organization,  for  the  defence  of  Eng- 
land's coasts,  as  well  as  the  appeals  made  to  the 
commercial  fleet,  the  Bicyclists'  Corps,  and  the  new 
organizations  of  private  motor-cars  and  steam 
launches. 

The  State  is  abdicating  and  appealing  in  its  holy 
functions  to  private  individuals.  Everywhere  free 
organization  trespasses  on  its  domain.  And  yet, 
the  facts  we  have  quoted  let  us  catch  only  a  glimpse 
of  what  free  agreement  has  in  store  for  us  in  the 
future,  when  there  will  be  no  more  State. 


CHAPTER  XII 
Objections 

I 

Let  us  now  examine  the  principal  objections  put 
forth  against  Communism.  Most  of  them  are 
evidently  caused  by  a  simple  misunderstanding, 
yet  they  raise  important  questions  and  merit  our 
attention. 

It  is  not  for  us  to  answer  the  objections  raised 
by  authoritarian  Communism  —  we  ourselves  hold 
with  them.  Civilized  nations  have  suffered  too 
much  in  the  long,  hard  struggle  for  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  individual,  to  disown  their  past  work 
and  to  tolerate  a  Government  that  would  make 
itself  felt  in  the  smallest  details  of  a  citizen's  life, 
even  if  that  Government  had  no  other  aim  than 
the  good  of  the  community.  Should  an  authori- 
tarian Socialist  society  ever  succeed  in  establishing 
itself,  it  could  not  last;  general  discontent  would 
soon  force  it  to  break  up,  or  to  reorganize  itself 
on  principles  of  liberty. 

It  is  of  an  Anarchist-Communist  society  we 
are  about  to  speak,  a  society  that  recognizes  the 
absolute  liberty  of  the  individual,  that  does  not 
admit  of  any  authority,  and  makes  use  of  no  com- 
pulsion to  drive  men  to  work.  Limiting  our 
studies  to  the  economic  side  of  the  question,  let 

iy6 


Objections  177 

us  see  if  such  a  society,  composed  of  men  as  they 
are  to-day,  neither  better  nor  worse,  neither  more 
nor  less  industrious,  would  have  a  chance  of 
successful  development. 

The  objection  is  known.  "If  the  existence 
of  each  is  guaranteed,  and  if  the  necessity  of  earn- 
ing wages  does  not  compel  men  to  work,  nobody 
will  work.  Every  man  will  lay  the  burden  of  his 
work  on  another  if  he  is  not  forced  to  do  it  himself." 
Let  us  first  remark  the  incredible  levity  with  which 
this  objection  is  raised,  without  taking  into  consid- 
eration that  the  question  is  in  reality  merely  to 
know,  on  the  one  hand,  whether  you  effectively 
obtain  by  wage-work  the  results  you  aim  at;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  whether  voluntary  work  is  not 
already  more  productive  to-day  than  work  stim- 
ulated by  wages.  A  question  which  would  require 
profound  study.  But  whereas  in  exact  sciences 
men  give  their  opinion  on  subjects  infinitely  less 
important  and  less  complicated  after  serious 
research,  after  carefully  collecting  and  analyzing 
facts,  on  this  question  they  will  pronounce  judg- 
ment without  appeal,  resting  satisfied  with  any 
one  particular  event,  such  as,  for  example,  the 
want  of  success  of  a  communist  association  in 
America.  They  act  like  the  barrister,  who  does 
not  see  in  the  council  for  the  opposite  side  a  repre- 
sentative of  a  cause,  or  an  opinion  contrary  to  his 
own,  but  a  simple  adversary  in  an  oratorical  debate ; 
and  if  he  be  lucky  enough  to  find  a  repartee,  does 
not  otherwise  care  to  justify  his  cause.  Therefore 
the  study  of  this    essential  basis  of  all    Political 


178  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

Economy,  the  study  of  the  most  favourable  condi- 
tions for  giving  society  the  greatest  amount  of 
useful  products  with  the  least  waste  of  human 
energy,  does  not  advance.  They  limit  themselves 
to  repeating  commonplace  assertions,  or  else  they 
pretend  ignorance  of  our  assertions. 

What  is  most  striking  in  this  levity  is  that  even 
in  capitalist  Political  Economy  you  already  find 
a  few  writers  compelled  by  facts  to  doubt  the 
axiom  put  forth  by  the  founders  of  their  science, 
that  the  threat  of  hunger  is  man's  best  stimulant 
for  productive  work.  They  begin  to  perceive 
that  in  production  a  certain  collective  element  is 
introduced  which  has  been  too  much  neglected  up 
till  now,  and  which  might  be  more  important  than 
personal  gain.  The  inferior  quality  of  wage-work, 
the  terrible  waste  of  human  energy  in  modem 
agricultural  and  industrial  labour,  the  ever  grow- 
ing quantity  of  pleasure-seekers,  who  to-day  load 
their  burden  on  others'  shoulders,  the  absence  of 
a  certain  animation  in  production  that  is  becoming 
more  and  more  apparent;  all  this  begins  to  pre- 
occupy the  economists  of  the  "classical"  school. 
Some  of  them  ask  themselves  if  they  have  not  got 
on  the  wrong  track:  if  the  imaginary  evil  being, 
that  was  supposed  to  be  tempted  exclusively  by  a 
bait  of  lucre  or  wages,  really  exists.  This  heresy 
penetrates  even  into  universities;  it  is  found  in 
books  of  orthodox  economy. 

This  does  not  hinder  a  great  many  Socialist  re- 
formers to  remain  partisans  of  individual  remunera- 
tion, and  defending  the    old    citadel    of  wagedom, 


Objections  179 

notwithstanding  that  it  is  being  delivered  over 
stone  by  stone  to  the  assailants  by  its  former 
defenders. 

They  fear  that  without  compulsion  the  masses 
will  not  work. 

But  during  our  own  lifetime  have  we  not  heard 
the  same  fears  expressed  twice?  By  the  anti- 
abolitionists  in  America  before  Negro  emancipation, 
and  by  the  Russian  nobility  before  the  liberation 
of  the  serfs.?  "  Without  the  whip  the  Negro  will  not 
work,"  said  the  anti-abolitionist.  "Free  from  their 
master's  supervision  the  serfs  will  leave  the  fields 
uncultivated,"  said  the  Russian  serf -owners.  It 
was  the  refrain  of  the  French  noblemen  in  1789, 
the  refrain  of  the  Middle  Ages,  a  refrain  as  old  as 
the  world,  and  we  shall  hear  it  every  time  there 
is  a  question  of  sweeping  away  an  injustice.  And 
each  time  actual  facts  give  it  the  lie.  The  liberated 
peasant  of  1792  ploughed  with  a  wild  energy  unknown 
to  his  ancestors,  the  emancipated  Negro  works  more 
than  his  fathers',  and  the  Russian  peasant,  after 
having  honoured  the  honeymoon  of  his  emancipa- 
tion by  celebrating  Fridays  as  well  as  Sundays, 
has  taken  up  work  with  as  much  eagerness  as  his 
liberation  was  the  more  complete.  There,  where 
the  soil  is  his,  he  works  desperately;  that  is  the 
exact  word  for  it.  The  anti-abolitionist  refrain  can 
be  of  value  to  slave-owners;  as  to  the  slaves 
themselves,  they  know  what  it  is  worth,  as  they 
know  its  motive. 

Moreover,  Who  but  economists  taught  us  that 
if    a    wage-earner's    work    is    but    indifferent,    an 


i8o  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

intense  and  productive  work  is  only  obtained  from  a 
man  who  sees  his  wealth  increase  in  proportion  to 
his  efforts?  All  hymns  sung  in  honour  of  private 
property  can  be  reduced  to  this  axiom. 

For  it  is  remarkable  that  when  economists, 
wishing  to  celebrate  the  blessings  of  property,  show 
us  how  an  unproductive,  marshy,  or  stony  soil  is 
clothed  with  rich  harvests  when  cultivated  by  the 
peasant  proprietor,  they  in  nowise  prove  their 
thesis  in  favour  of  private  property.  By  admitting 
that  the  only  guarantee  not  to  be  robbed  of  the 
fruits  of  your  labour  is  to  possess  the  instruments 
of  labour  —  which  is  true  —  the  economists  only 
prove  that  man  really  produces  most  when  he  works 
in  freedom,  when  he  has  a  certain  choice  in  his 
occupations,  when  he  has  no  overseer  to  impede 
him,  and  lastly,  when  he  sees  his  work  bringing 
in  a  profit  to  him  and  to  others  who  work  like 
him,  but  bringing  in  nothing  to  idlers.  This  is  all 
we  can  deduct  from  their  argumentation,  and  we 
maintain  the  same  ourselves. 

As  to  the  form  of  possession  of  the  instruments 
of  labour,  they  only  mention  it  indirectly  in  their 
demonstration,  as  a  guarantee  to  the  cultivator 
that  he  shall  not  be  robbed  of  the  profits  of  his 
yield  nor  of  his  improvements.  Besides,  in  support 
of  their  thesis  in  favour  of  private  property  against 
all  other  forms  of  possession,  should  not  the  econo- 
mists demonstrate  that  under  the  form  of  communal 
property  land  never  produces  such  rich  harvests 
as  when  the  possession  is  private?  But  it  is  not 
so ;  in  fact,  the  contrary  has  been  observed. 


Objections  i8i 

Take  for  example  a  commune  in  the  canton  of 
Vaud,  in  the  winter  time,  when  all  the  men  of  the 
village  go  to  fell  wood  in  the  forest,  which  belongs 
to  them  all.  It  is  precisely  during  these  festivals 
of  toil  that  the  greatest  ardour  for  work  and  the 
most  considerable  display  of  human  energy  are 
apparent.  No  salaried  labour,  no  effort  of  a  private 
owner  can  bear  comparison  with  it. 

Or  let  us  take  a  Russian  village,  when  all  its 
inhabitants  mow  a  field  belonging  to  the  commune, 
or  farmed  by  it.  There  you  will  see  what  man  can 
produce  when  he  works  in  common  for  communal 
production.  Comrades  vie  with  one  another  in 
cutting  the  widest  swath;  women  bestir  themselves 
in  their  wake  so  as  not  to  be  distanced  by  the  mowers. 
It  is  a  festival  of  labour,  in  which  a  hundred  people 
do  work  in  a  few  hours  that  would  not  have  been 
finished  in  a  few  days  had  they  worked  separately. 
What  a  sad  contrast  compared  to  the  work  of  the 
isolated  owner! 

In  fact,  we  might  quote  scores  of  examples  among 
the  pioneers  of  America,  in  Swiss,  German,  Russian, 
and  in  certain  French  villages;  or  the  work  done 
in  Russia  by  gangs  (artels)  of  masons,  carpenters, 
boatmen,  fishermen,  etc.,  who  undertake  a  task  and 
divide  the  produce  or  the  remuneration  among 
themselves,  without  it  passing  through  the  inter- 
mediary of  middlemen.  We  could  also  mention 
the  great  communal  hunts  of  nomadic  tribes,  and  an 
infinite  number  of  successful  collective  enterprises. 
And  in  every  case  we  could  show  the  unquestion- 
able superiority  of  commimal  work  compared    to 


i82  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

that    of  the  wage-earner  or  the  isolated   private 
owner. 

Well-being,  that  is  to  say,  the  satisfaction  of 
physical,  artistic,  and  moral  needs,  has  always 
been  the  most  powerful  stimulant  to  work.  And 
when  a  hireling  produces  bare  necessities  with 
difficulty,  a  free  worker,  who  sees  ease  and  luxury 
increasing  for  him  and  for  others  in  proportion 
to  his  efforts,  spends  infinitely  far  more  energy 
arid  intelligence,  and  obtains  first-class  products 
in  far  greater  abundance.  The  one  feels  riveted 
to  misery,  the  other  hopes  for  ease  and  luxury 
in  the  future.  In  this  lies  the  whole  secret. 
Therefore  a  society  aiming  at  the  well-being  of  all, 
and  at  the  possibility  of  all  enjoying  life  in  all 
its  manifestations,  will  supply  voluntary  work 
which  will  be  infinitely  superior  and  yield  far 
more  than  work  has  produced  up  till  now  under 
the  goad  of  slavery,  serfdom,  or  wagedom. 

II 

Nowadays,  whoever  can  load  on  others  his 
share  of  labour  indispensable  to  existence,  does 
so,  and  it  is  admitted  that  it  will  always  be  so. 

Now  work  indispensable  to  existence  is  essentially 
manual.  We  may  be  artists  or  scientists ;  but  none 
of  us  can  do  without  things  obtained  by  manual 
work  —  bread,  clothes,  roads,  ships,  light,  heat,  etc. 
And,  moreover,  however  highly  artistic  or  however 
subtly  metaphysical  are  our  pleasures,  they  all 
depend  on  manual  labour.     And  it  is  precisely  this 


Objections  183 

labour  —  basis  of  life  —  that  every  one  tries  to 
avoid. 

We  understand  perfectly  well  that  it  must  be  so 
nowadays. 

Because,  to  do  manual  work  now,  means  in  reality 
to  shut  yourself  up  for  ten  or  twelve  hours  a  day 
in  an  unhealthy  workshop,  and  to  remain  riveted 
to  the  same  task  for  twenty  or  thirty  years,  and 
maybe  for  your  whole  life. 

It  means  to  be  doomed  to  a  paltry  wage,  to 
the  uncertainty  of  the  morrow,  to  want  of  work, 
often  to  destitution,  more  often  than  not  to  death 
in  a  hospital,  after  having  worked  forty  years 
to  feed,  clothe,  amuse,  and  instruct  others  than 
yourself  and  your  children. 

It  means  to  bear  the  stamp  of  inferiority  all  your 
life,  because,  whatever  the  politicians  tell  us,  the 
manual  worker  is  always  considered  inferior  to  the 
brain  worker,  and  the  one  who  has  toiled  ten  hours 
in  a  workshop  has  not  the  time,  and  still  less  the 
means,  to  give  himself  the  high  delights  of  science 
and  art,  nor  even  to  prepare  himself  to  appreciate 
them ;  he  must  be  content  with  the  crumbs  from  the 
table  of  privileged  persons. 

We  understand  that  under  these  conditions 
manual  labour  is  considered  a  curse  of  fate. 

We  understand  that  all  men  have  but  one 
dream  —  that  of  emerging  from,  or  enabling  their 
children  to  emerge  from  this  inferior  state ;  to  create 
for  themselves  an  "independent"  position,  which 
means  what?  —  To  also  live  by  other  men's  work! 

As  long  as  there  will  be  a  class  of  manual  workers 


i§4  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

and  a  class  of  "brain"  workers,  black  hands  and 
white  hands,  it  will  be  thus. 

What  interest,  in  fact,  can  this  depressing  work 
have  for  the  worker,  when  he  knows  that  the  fate 
awaiting  him  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  will  be 
to  live  in  mediocrity,  poverty,  and  insecurity  of  the 
morrow?  Therefore,  when  we  see  the  immense 
majority  of  men  take  up  their  wretched  task  every 
morning,  we  are  surprised  at  their  perseverance,  at 
their  zeal  for  work,  at  the  habit  that  enables  them, 
like  machines  blindly  obeying  an  impetus  given,  to 
lead  this  life  of  misery  without  hope  for  the  morrow ; 
without  foreseeing  ever  so  vaguely  that  some 
day  they,  or  at  least  their  children,  will  be  part  of  a 
humanity  rich  in  all  the  treasures  of  a  bountiful 
nature,  in  all  the  enjoyments  of  knowledge,  scientific 
and  artistic  creation,  reserved  to-day  to  a  few 
privileged  favourites. 

It  is  precisely  to  put  an  end  to  this  separation 
between  manual  and  brain  work  that  we  want  to 
abolish  wagedom,  that  we  want  the  Social  Revolu- 
tion. Then  work  will  no  longer  appear  a  curse 
of  fate :  it  will  become  what  it  should  be  —  the 
free  exercise  of  all  the  faculties  of  man. 

Moreover,  it  is  time  to  submit  to  a  serious 
analysis  this  legend  about  superior  work,  supposed 
to  be  obtained  under  the  lash  of  wagedom. 

It  is  enough  to  visit,  not  the  model  factory  and 
workshop  that  we  find  now  and  again,  but  ordinary 
factories,  to  conceive  the  immense  waste  of  human 
energy  that  characterizes  modem  industry.  For 
one    factory    more    or    less    rationally    organized, 


Objections  185 

there  are  a  hundred  or  more  which  waste  man's 
labour,  without  a  more  substantial  motive  than 
that  of  perhaps  bringing  in  a  few  pounds  more  per 
day  to  the  employer. 

Here  you  see  youths  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  sitting  all  day  long  on  a  bench, 
their  chests  sunken  in,  feverishly  shaking  their 
heads  and  bodies  to  tie,  with  the  speed  of  conjurers, 
the  two  ends  of  worthless  scraps  of  cotton,  the 
refuse  of  the  lace-looms.  What  progeny  will  these 
trembling  and  rickety  bodies  bequeath  to  their 
country?  "But  they  occupy  so  little  room  in  the 
factory,  and  each  of  them  brings  me  in  sixpence  a 
day,"  will  say  the  employer. 

In  an  immense  London  factory  you  could  see 
girls,  bald  at  seventeen  from  carrying  trays  of 
matches  on  their  heads  from  one  room  to  another, 
when  the  simplest  machine  could  wheel  the  matches 
to  their  tables.  But  ...  it  costs  so  little,  the 
work  of  women  who  have  no  special  trade!  What 
is  the  use  of  a  machine?  When  these  can  do  no 
more,  they  will  be  easily  replaced  .  .  .  there  are 
so  many  in  the  street. 

On  the  steps  of  a  mansion  on  an  icy  night  you 
will  find  a  bare-footed  child  asleep,  with  its  bundle 
of  papers  in  its  arms  .  .  .  child-labour  costs  so 
little  that  it  may  well  be  employed,  every  evening, 
to  sell  tenpenny-worth  of  papers,  of  which  the  poor 
boy  will  receive  a  penny,  or  a  penny  half -penny. 
And  lastly,  you  may  see  a  robust  man  tramping, 
dangling  his  arms;  he  has  been  out  of  work  for 
months.     Meanwhile  his  daughter  grows  pale  in  the 


i86  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

overheated  vapours  of  the  workshop  for  dressing 
stuffs,  and  his  son  fills  blacking  pots  by  hand,  or 
waits  hours  at  the  comer  of  a  street  till  a  passer-by 
enables  him  to  earn  a  penny. 

And  so  it  is  everywhere,  from  San  Francisco  to 
Moscow,  and  from  Naples  to  Stockholm.  The 
waste  of  human  energy  is  the  distinguishing  and 
predominant  trait  of  industry,  not  to  mention  trade 
where  it  attains  still  more  colossal  proportions. 

What  a  sad  satire  is  that  name,  Political  Econ- 
omy, given  to  the  science  of  waste  of  energy  tmder 
the  system  of  wagedom! 

This  is  not  all.  If  you  speak  to  the  director  of 
a  well-organized  factory,  he  will  naively  explain  to 
you  that  it  is  difficult  nowadays  to  find  a  skilful, 
vigorous,  and  energetic  workman,  who  works  with 
a  will.  "Should  such  a  man  present  himself 
among  the  twenty  or  thirty  who  call  every  Monday 
asking  us  for  work,  he  is  sure  to  be  received,  even 
if  we  are  reducing  the  number  of  our  hands.  We 
recognize  him  at  the  first  glance,  and  he  is  always 
accepted,  even  though  we  have  to  get  rid  of  an 
older  and  less  active  worker  the  next  day."  And 
the  one  who  has  just  received  notice  to  quit,  and 
all  those  who  receive  it  to-morrow,  go  to  reinforce 
that  immense  reserve  army  of  capital  —  workmen 
out  of  work  —  who  are  only  called  to  the  loom  or 
the  bencli  when  there  is  pressure  of  work,  or  to 
oppose  strikers.  And  those  others,  the  average 
workers  that  are  the  refuse  of  the  better-class 
factories?  they  join  the  equally  formidable  army 
of  aged  and  indifferent  workers   that  continually 


Objections  187 

circulates  between  the  second-class  factories  —  those 
which  barely  cover  their  expenses  and  make  their 
way  in  the  world  by  trickery  and  snares  laid  for 
the  buyer,  and  especially  for  the  consumer  in  distant 
countries. 

And  if  you  talk  to  the  workmen  themselves,  you 
will  soon  learn  that  the  rule  in  such  factories  is  — 
never  to  do  entirely  what  you  are  capable  of. 
"Shoddy  pay  —  shoddy  work!"  this  is  the  advice 
which  the  working  man  receives  from  his  comrades 
upon  entering  such  a  factory. 

For  the  workers  know  that  if  in  a  moment  of 
generosity  they  give  way  to  the  entreaties  of  an 
employer  and  consent  to  intensify  the  work  in 
order  to  carry  out  a  pressing  order,  this  nervous 
work  will  be  exacted  in  the  future  as  a  rule  in  the 
scale  of  wages.  Therefore  in  all  such  factories 
they  prefer  never  to  produce  as  much  as  they  can. 
In  certain  industries  production  is  limited  so  as  to 
keep  up  high  prices,  and  sometimes  the  password, 
"Go-canny,"  is  given,  which  signifies,  "Bad  work 
for  bad  pay!" 

Wage-work  is  serf -work;  it  cannot,  it  must  not, 
produce  all  that  it  could  produce.  And  it  is  high 
time  to  disbelieve  the  legend  which  represents 
wagedom  as  the  best  incentive  to  productive  work. 
If  industry  nowadays  brings  in  a  hundred  times 
more  than  it  did  in  the  days  of  our  grandfathers, 
it  is  due  to  the  sudden  awakening  of  physical  and 
chemical  sciences  towards  the  end  of  last  century; 
not  to  the  capitalist  organization  of  wagedom,  but 
in  spite  of  that  organization. 


i88  The  Conquest  of  Bread 


III 

Those  who  have  seriously  studied  the  question 
do  not  deny  any  of  the  advantages  of  Communism, 
on  condition,  be  it  well  understood,  that  Com- 
munism be  perfectly  free,  that  is  to  say.  Anarchist. 
They  recognize  that  work  paid  with  money,  even 
disguised  under  the  name  of  "labour  notes,"  to 
Workers'  associations  governed  by  the  State,  would 
keep  up  the  characteristics  of  wagedom  and  would 
retain  its  disadvantages.  They  agree  that  the 
whole  system  would  soon  suffer  from  it,  even  if 
society  came  into  possession  of  the  instruments 
of  production.  And  they  admit  that,  thanks  to 
integral  education  gfven  to  all  children,  to  the 
laborious  habits  of  civilized  societies,  with  the 
Hberty  of  choosing  and  varying  their  occupations 
and  the  attractions  of  work  done  by  equals  for  the 
well-being  of  all,  a  Communist  society  would  not  be 
wanting  in  producers  who  would  soon  make  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  triple  and  tenfold,  and  give  a 
new  impulse  to  industry. 

This  our  opponents  agree  to.  "  But  the  danger," 
they  say,  "will  come  from  that  minority  of  loafers 
who  will  not  work,  and  will  not  have  regular  habits 
in  spite  of  excellent  conditions  that  make  work 
pleasant.  To-day  the  prospect  of  hunger  compels 
the  most  refractory  to  move  along  with  the  others. 
The  one  who  does  not  arrive  in  time  is  dismissed. 
But  a  black  sheep  suffices  to  contaminate  the  whole 
flock,    and    two    or    three    sluggish    or    refractory 


Objections  189 

workmen  lead  the  others  astray  and  bring  a  spirit 
of  disorder  and  rebellion  into  the  workshop  that 
makes  work  impossible;  so  that  in  the  end  we  shall 
have  to  return  to  a  system  of  compulsion  that  forces 
the  ringleaders  back  into  the  ranks.  And  is  not 
the  system  of  wages  paid  in  proportion  to  work 
performed,  the  only  one  that  enables  compulsion  to 
be  employed,  without  hurting  the  feelings  of  the 
worker?  .Because  all  other  means  would  imply  the 
continual  intervention  of  an  authority  that  would 
be  repugnant  to  free  men."  This,  we  believe,  is 
the  objection  fairly  stated. 

It  belongs  to  the  category  of  arguments  which 
try  to  justify  the  State,  the  Penal  Law,  the  Judge, 
and  the  Gaoler. 

"As  there  are  people,  a  feeble  minority,  who 
will  not  submit  to  social  customs,"  the  authori- 
tarians say,  "we  must  maintain  magistrates,  tri- 
bunals and  prisons,  although  these  institutions 
become  a  source  of  new  evils  of  all  kinds." 

Therefore  we  can  only  repeat  what  we  have 
so  often  said  concerning  authority  in  general: 
"To  avoid  a  possible  evil  you  have  recourse  to 
means  which  in  themselves  are  a  greater  evil,  and 
become  the  source  of  those  same  abuses  that  you 
wish  to  remedy.  For  do  not  forget  that  it  is  wage- 
dom,  the  impossibility  of  living  otherwise  than  by 
selling  your  labour,  which  has  created  the  present 
Capitalist  system,  whose  vices  you  begin  to  recog- 
nize." Let  us  also  remark  that  this  authoritarian 
way  of  reasoning  is  but  a  justification  of  what  is 
wrong  in  the  present  system.     Wagedom  was  not 


190  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

instituted  to  remove  the  disadvantages  of  Com- 
munism ;  its  origin,  like  that  of  the  State  and  private 
ownership,  is  to  be  found  elsewhere.  It  is  bom  of 
slavery  and  serfdom  imposed  by  force,  and  only 
wears  a  more  modem  garb.  Thus  the  argument  in 
favour  of  wagedom  is  as  valueless  as  those  by  which 
they  seek  to  apologize  for  private  property  and  the 
State. 

We  are,  nevertheless,  going  to  examine  the 
objection,   and  see  if  there  is  any  truth  in  it. 

To  begin  with,  Is  it  not  evident  that  if  a  society, 
founded  on  the  principle  of  free  work,  were  really 
menaced  by  loafers,  it  could  protect  itself  without 
an  authoritarian  organization  and  without  having 
recotirse  to  wagedom? 

Let  us  take  a  group  of  volunteers,  combining 
for.  some  particular  enterprise.  Having  its  success 
at  heart,  they  all  work  with  a  will,  save  one  of  the 
associates,  who  is  frequently  absent  from  his  post. 
Must  they  on  his  account  dissolve  the  group,  elect 
a  president  to  impose  -fines,  or  maybe  distribute 
markers  for  work  done,  as  is  customary  in  the 
Academy?  It  is  evident  that  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  will  be  done,  but  that  some  day  the 
comrade  who  imperils  their  enterprise  will  be 
told:  "Friend,  we  should  like  to  work  with  you; 
but  as  you  are  often  absent  from  your  post,  and 
you  do  your  work  negligently,  we  must  part.  Go 
and  find  other  comrades  who  will  put  up  with  your 
indifference!" 

This  way  is  so  natural  that  it  is  practised  every- 
where nowadays,  in  all  industries,  in   competition 


Objections  191 

with  all  possible  systems  of  fines,  docking  of  wages, 
supervision,  etc. ;  a  workman  may  enter  the  factory 
at  the  appointed  time,  but  if  he  does  his  work  badly, 
if  he  hinders  his  comrades  by  his  laziness  or  other 
defects,  and  they  quarrel  with  him  on  that  account, 
there  is  an  end  of  it;  he  is  compelled  to  leave  the 
workshop. 

Authoritarians  pretend  that  it  is  the  almighty 
employer  and  his  overseers  who  maintain  regularity 
and  quality  of  work  in  factories.  In  fact,  in  a 
somewhat  compUcated  enterprise,  in  which  the 
wares  produced  pass  through  many  hands  before 
being  finished,  it  is  the  factory  itself,  the  workmen 
as  a  unity,  who  see  to  the  good  quality  of  the  work. 
Therefore  the  best  factories  of  British  private 
industry  have  few  overseers,  far  less  on  an  average 
than  the  French  factories,  and  less  than  the  British 
State  factories. 

A  certain  standard  of  public  morals  is  maintained 
in  the  same  way.  Authoritarians  say  it  is  due  to 
rural  guards,  judges,  and  policemen,  whereas  in 
reality  it  is  maintained  in  spite  of  judges, 
policemen,  and  rural  guards.  "  Many  are  the  laws 
producing  criminals!"  has  been  said  long  ago. 

Not  only  in  industrial  workshops  do  things  go  on 
in  this  way ;  it  happens  everywhere,  every  day,  on  a 
scale  that  only  bookworms  have  as  yet  no  notion 
of.  When  a  railway  company,  federated  with  other 
companies,  fails  to  fulfil  its  engagements,  when  its 
trains  are  late  and  goods  lie  neglected  at  the  stations, 
the  other  companies  threaten  to  cancel  the  contract, 
and  that  threat  usually  suffices. 


192  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

It  is  generally  believed,  at  any  rate  it  is  taught, 
that  commerce  only  keeps  to  its  engagements  from 
fear  of  lawsuits.  Nothing  of  the  sort ;  nine  times  in 
ten  the  trader  who  has  not  kept  his  word  will  not 
appear  before  a  judge.  There,  where  trade  is  very 
great,  as  in  London,  the  sole  fact  of  having  driven 
a  creditor  to  bring  a  lawsuit  suffices  for  the  immense 
majority  of  merchants  to  refuse  for  good  to  have 
any  dealings  with  a  man  who  has  compelled  one  of 
them  to  go  to  law. 

Then,  why  should  means  that  are  used  to-day 
among  mates  in  the  workshop,  traders,  and  railway 
companies,  not  be  made  use  of  in  a  society  based 
on  voluntary  work? 

Take,  for  example,  an  association  stipulating  that 
each  of  its  members  should  carry  out  the  following 
contract :  "  We  undertake  to  give  you  the  use  of  our 
houses,  stores,  streets,  means  of  transport,  schools, 
museums,  etc.,  on  condition  that,  from  twenty  to 
forty-five  or  fifty  years  of  age,  you  consecrate  four 
or  five  hours  a  day  to  some  work  recognized  as 
necessary  to  existence.  Choose  yourself  the  pro- 
ducing groups  which  you  wish  to  join,  or  organize 
a  new  group,  provided  that  it  will  undertake  to 
produce  necessaries.  And  as  for  the  remainder 
of  your  time,  combine  together  with  those  you  like 
for  recreation,  art,  or  science,  according  to  the  bent 
of  your  taste. 

"Twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  hours  of  work  a 
year,  in  a  group  producing  food,  clothes,  or  houses, 
or  employed  in  pubHc  health,  transport,  etc.,  is 
all  we  ask  of  you.     For  this  work  we  guarantee 


Objections  193 

to  you  all  that  these  groups  produce  or  will  produce. 
But  if  not  one,  of  the  thousands  of  groups  of  our 
federation,  will  receive  you,  whatever  be  their 
motive ;  if  you  are  absolutely  incapable  of  producing 
anything  useful,  or  if  you  refuse  to  do  it,  then  live 
like  an  isolated  man  or  like  an  invalid.  If  we  are 
rich  enough  to  give  you  the  necessaries  of  life  we 
shall  be  delighted  to  give  them  to  you.  You  are  a 
man,  and  you  have  the  right  tq  live.  But  as  you 
wish  to  live  under  special  conditions,  and  leave  the 
ranks,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  you  will  suffer 
for  it  in  your  daily  relations  with  other  citizens. 
You  will  be  looked  upon  as  a  ghost  of  bourgeois 
society,  unless  some  friends  of  yours,  discovering 
you  to  be  a  talent,  kindly  free  you  from  all  moral 
obligation  towards  society  by  doing  necessary  work 
for  you. 

"And  lastly,  if  it  does  not  please  you,  go  and 
look  for  other  conditions  elsewhere  in  the  wide 
world,  or  else  seek  adherents  and  organize  with 
them  on  novel  principles.     We  prefer  our  own." 

That  is  what  could  be  done  in  a  communal  society 
in  order  to  turn  away  sluggards  if  they  became  too 
numerous. 

IV 

We  very  much  doubt  that  we  need  fear  this  con- 
tingency in  a  society  really  based  on  the  entire 
freedom  of  the  individual. 

In  fact,  in  spite  of  the  premium  on  idleness 
offered  by  private  ownership  of  capital,  the  really 
lazy  man,  unless  he  is  ill,  is  comparatively  rare. 


194  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

Among  workmen  it  is  often  said  that  bourgeois 
are  idlers.  There  are  certainly  enough  of  them,  but 
they,  too,  are  the  exception.  On  the  contrary,  in 
every  industrial  enterprise,  you  are  sure  to  find 
one  or  more  bourgeois  who  work  very  hard.  It  is 
true  that  the  majority  of  bourgeois  profit  by  their 
privileged  position  to  award  themselves  the  least 
unpleasant  tasks,  and  that  they  work  under  hygienic 
conditions  of  air,  food,  etc.,  which  permit  them  to 
do  their  business  without  too  much  fatigue.  But 
these  are  precisely  the  conditions  which  we  claim 
for  all  workers,  without  exception.  We  must  also 
say  that  if,  thanks  to  their  privileged  position,  rich 
people  often  make  absolutely  useless  or  even  harmful 
work  in  society,  nevertheless  the  Ministers,  Heads 
of  Departments,  factory  owners,  traders,  bankers, 
etc.,  subject  themselves  for  a  few  hours  a  day  to 
work  which  they  find  more  or  less  tiresome,  all 
preferring  their  hours  of  leisure  to  this  obligatory 
work.  And  if  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  this  work  is 
fateful,  they  find  it  none  the  less  tiring  for  that. 
But  it  is  precisely  because  the  middle  class  put 
forth  a  great  energy,  even  in  doing  harm  (knowingly 
or  not)  and  defending  their  privileged  position,  that 
they  have  succeeded  in  defeating  the  landed 
nobility,  and  that  they  continue  to  rule  the  masses. 
If  they  were  idlers  they  would  long  since  have  ceased 
to  exist,  and  would  have  disappeared  like  the 
aristocrats.  In  a  society  that  would  expect  only 
four  or  five  hours  a  day  of  useful,  pleasant,  and 
hygienic  work,  they  would  perform  their  task 
perfectly,    and   they  certainly  would   not  put   up 


Objections  195 

with  the  horrible  conditions  in  which  men  toil 
nowadays  without  reforming  them.  If  a  Huxley 
spent  only  five  hours  in  the  sewers  of  London,  rest 
assured  that  he  would  have  found  the  means  of  mak- 
ing them  as  sanitary  as  his  physiological  laboratory. 

As  to  the  laziness  of  the  great  majority  of  workers, 
only  Philistine  economists  and  philanthropists  say 
such  nonsense. 

If  you  ask  an  intelligent  manufacturer,  he  will 
tell  you  that  if  workmen  only  put  it  into  their  heads 
to  be  lazy,  all  factories  would  have  to  be  closed, 
for  no  measure  of  severity,  no  system  of  spying 
would  be  of  any  use.  You  should  have  seen  the 
terror  caused  in  1887  among  British  employers 
when  a  few  agitators  started  preaching  the  "go- 
canny"  theory  —  "for  bad  pay  bad  work";  "take 
it  easy,  do  not  overwork  yourselves,  and  waste  all 
you  can."  —  "They  demoralize  the  worker,  they 
want  to  kill  industry!"  cried  those  who  formerly 
inveighed  against  the  immorality  of  the  worker 
and  the  bad  quality  of  his  work.  But  if  the  worker 
were  what  he  is  represented  to  be  —  namely,  the 
idler  whom  you  have  continually  to  threaten  with 
dismissal  from  the  workshop  —  what  would  the 
word  "demoralization"  signify? 

So  when  we  speak  of  a  possible  idleness,  we 
must  well  understand  that  it  is  a  question  of  a 
small  minority  in  society;  and  before  legislating 
for  that  minority,  would  it  not  be  wise  to  study  its 
origin?  Whoever  observes  with  an  intelligent  eye 
sees  well  enough  that  the  child  reputed  lazy  at  school 
is  often  the  one  which  does  not  understand  what  he 


196  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

is  badly  taught.  Very  often,  too,  it  is  suffering 
from  cerebral  anaemia,  caused  by  poverty  and  an 
anti-hygienic  education.  A  boy  who  is  lazy  at 
Greek  or  Latin  would  work  admirably  were  he  taught 
in  science,  especially  if  taught  by  the  medium  of 
manual  labour.  A  girl  reputed  nought  at  mathe- 
matics becomes  the  first  mathematician  of  her  class 
if  she  by  chance  meets  somebody  who  can  explain  to 
her  the  elements  of  arithmetic  she  did  not  under- 
stand. And  a  workman,  lazy  in  the  workshop, 
cultivates  his  garden  at  dawn,  while  gazing  at  the 
rising  sun,  and  will  be  at  work  again  at  nightfall, 
when  all  nature  goes  to  its  rest. 

Somebody  said  that  dirt  is  matter  in  the  wrong 
place.  The  same  definition  applies  to  nine-tenths 
of  those  called  lazy.  They  are  people  gone  astray 
in  a  direction  that  does  not  answer  to  their  tem- 
perament nor  to  their  capacities.  In  reading  the 
biography  of  great  men,  we  are  struck  with  the 
nimiber  of  "idlers"  among  them.  They  were 
lazy  as  long  as  they  had  not  found  the  right  path, 
and  afterwards  laborious  to  excess.  Darwin, 
Stephenson,  and  many  others  belonged  to  this 
category  of  idlers. 

Very  often  the  idler  is  but  a  man  to  whom  it  is 
repugnant  to  make  all  his  life  the  eighteenth  part 
of  a  pin,  or  the  hundredth  part  of  a  watch,  while 
he  feels  he  has  exuberant  energy  which  he  would 
like  to  expend  elsewhere.  Often,  too,  he  is  a 
rebel  who  cannot  submit  to  being  fixed  all  his  life 
to  a  work-bench  in  order  to  procure  a  thousand 
pleasures  for  his  employer,  while  knowing  himself 


Objections  197 

«to  be  far  the  less  stupid  of  the  two,  and  knowing 
his  only  fault  to  be  that  of  having  been  bom  in  a 
hovel  instead  of  coming  into  the  world  in  a  castle. 

Lastly,  a  good  many  "idlers"  do  not  know  the 
trade  by  which  they  are  compelled  to  earn  their 
living.  Seeing  the  imperfect  thing  made  by  their 
own  hands,  striving  vainly  to  do  better,  and  per- 
ceiving that  they  never  will  succeed  on  account  of 
the  bad  habits  of  work  already  acquired,  they  begin 
to  hate  their  trade,  and,  not  knowing  any  other, 
hate  work  in  general.  Thousands  of  workmen  and 
artists  who  are  failures  suffer  from  this  cause. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  who  since  his  youth  has 
learned  to  play  the  piano  well,  to  handle  the  plans 
well,  the  chisel,  the  brush,  or  the  file,  so  that 
he  feels  that  what  he  does  is  beautiful,  will  never 
give  up  the  piano,  the  chisel,  or  the  file.  He  will 
find  pleasure  in  his  work  which  does  not  tire  him, 
as  long  as  he  is  not  overdriven. 

Under  the  one  name,  idleness,  a  series  of  results 
due  to  different  causes  have  been  grouped,  of  which 
each  one  could  be  a  source  of  good,  instead  of  being 
a  source  of  evil  to  society.  Like  all  questions  con- 
cerning criminality  and  related  to  human  faculties, 
facts  have  been  collected  having  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  one  another.  They  say  laziness  or  crime, 
without  giving  themselves  the  trouble  to  analyse 
their  cause.  They  are  in  haste  to  punish  them, 
without  inquiring  if  the  punishment  itself  does  not 
contain  a  premium  on  "laziness"  or  "crime."  * 

*  See  my  book,  "In  Russian  and  French  Prisons."  London 
1887. 


198  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

This  is  why  a  free  society,  seeing  the  number 
of  idlers  increasing  in  its  midst,  would  no  doubt 
think  of  looking  for  the  cause  of  laziness,  in  order 
to  suppress  it,  before  having  recourse  to  punish- 
ment. When  it  is  a  case,  as  we  have  already 
mentioned,  of  simple  bloodlessness,  then,  before 
stuffing  the  brain  of  a  child  with  science,  nourish 
his  system  so  as  to  produce  blood,  strengthen  him, 
and,  that  he  shall  not  waste  his  time,  take  him  to  the 
country  or  to  the  seaside;  there,  teach  him  in  the 
open  air,  not  in  books  —  geometry,  by  measuring 
the  distance  to  a  spire,  or  the  height  of  a  tree; 
natural  sciences,  while  picking  flowers  and  fishing 
in  the  sea;  physical  science,  while  building  the 
boat  he  will  go  to  fish  in.  But  for  mercy's  sake 
do  not  fill  his  brain  with  sentences  and  dead 
languages.     Do   not   make   an   idler   of   him!  .  .  . 

Such  a  child  has  neither  order  nor  regular  habits. 
Let  first  the  children  inculcate  order  among  them- 
selves, and  later  on,  the  laboratory,  the  workshop, 
work  done  in  a  limited  space,  with  many  tools 
about,  will  teach  them  method.  But  do  not  make 
disorderly  beings  out  of  them  by  your  school, 
whose  only  order  is  the  symmetry  of  its  benches, 
and  which  —  true  image  of  the  chaos  in  its  teach- 
ings —  will  never  inspire  anybody  with  the  love 
of  harmony,  of  consistency,  and   method  in  work. 

Do  not  you  see  that  by  your  methods  of  teaching, 
framed  by  a  Ministry  for  eight  million  scholars, 
who  represent  eight  million  different  capacities, 
you  only  impose  a  system  good  for  mediocrities, 
conceived   by   an   average   of   mediocrities?    Your 


Objections  199 

school  becomes  a  University  of  laziness,  as  your 
prison  is  a  University  of  crime.  Make  the  school 
free,  abolish  your  University  grades,  appeal  to  the 
volunteers  of  teaching;  begin  that  way,  instead 
of  making  laws  against  laziness  which  only  serve 
to  increase  it. 

Give  the  workman  who  is  compelled  to  make 
a  minute  particle  of  some  object,  who  is  stifled 
at  his  little  tapping  machine,  which  he  ends  by 
loathing,  give  him  the  chance  of  tilling  the  soil, 
felling  trees  in  the  forest,  sailing  the  seas  in  the 
teeth  of  a  storm,  dashing  through  space  on  an 
engine,  but  do  not  make  an  idler  of  him  by  forcing 
him  all  his  life  to  attend  to  a  small  machine,  to 
plough  the  head  of  a  screw,  or  to  drill  the  eye  of 
a  needle. 

Suppress  the  cause  of  idleness,  and  you  may 
take  it  for  granted  that  few  individuals  will  really 
hate  work,  especially  voluntary  work,  and  that 
there  will  be  no  need  to  manufactiire  a  code  of 
laws  on  their  accotmt. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Collectivist  Wages  System 


It  is  our  opinion  that  coUectivists  commit  a 
twofold  error  in  their  plans  for  the  recon- 
struction of  society.  While  speaking  of  abolishing 
capitalist  rule,  they  intend  nevertheless  to  retain  two 
institutions  which  are  the  very  basis  of  this  rule  — 
Representative  Government  and  the  Wages  System, 

As  regards  so-called  representative  government, 
we  have  often  spoken  about  it.  It  is  absolutely 
incomprehensible  to  us  that  intelligent  men  — 
and  such  are  not  wanting  in  the  collectivist  party 
—  can  remain  partisans  of  national  or  municipal 
parliaments  after  all  the  lessons  history  has  given 
them  —  in  France,  in  England,  in  Germany,  or  in 
the  United  States. 

While  we  see  parliamentary  rule  breaking  up, 
and  from  all  sides  criticism  of  this  rule  growing 
louder  —  not  only  of  its  results,  but  also  of  its 
principles  —  how  is  it  that  revolutionary  socialists 
defend  a  system  already  condemned  to  die? 

Built  up  by  the  middle  classes  to  hold  their 
own  against  royalty,  sanctioning,  and  at  the  same 
time  strengthening,  their  sway  over  the  workers, 
parliamentary  rule  is  pre-eminently  a  middle-class 
rule.     The   upholders   of   this   system  have   never 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    201 

seriously  affirmed  that  a  parliament  or  a  mimicipal 
council  represent  a  nation  or  a  city.  The  most 
intelligent  among  them  know  that  this  is  impossible. 
The  middle  class  has  simply  used  the  parliamentary 
system  to  raise  a  barrier  between  itself  and  royalty, 
without  giving  the  people  liberty.  But  gradually, 
as  the  people  become  conscious  of  their  interests 
and  the  variety  of  their  interests  multiply,  the 
system  can  no  longer  work.  Therefore  democrats 
of  all  countries  vainly  imagine  divers  palliatives. 
The  Referendum  is  tried  and  found  to  be  a  failure; 
proportional  representation  is  spoken  of,  so  is 
representation  of  minorities,  and  other  parliamen- 
tary Utopias.  In  a  word,  they  strive  to  find  what 
is  not  to  be  found,  and  they  are  compelled  to 
recognize  that  they  are  in  a  wrong  way,  and  con- 
fidence in  a  Representative  Government  disappears. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  wages  system;  for  after 
having  proclaimed  the  abolition  of  private  property, 
and  the  possession  in  common  of  all  means  of  pro- 
duction, how  can  they  uphold  the  wages  system  in 
any  form?  It  is,  nevertheless,  what  collectivists 
are  doing  when  they  recommend  labour-cheques. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  why  the  early  English 
socialists  came  to  the  system  of  labour-cheques. 
They  simply  tried  to  make  Capital  and  Labour 
agree.  They  repudiated  the  idea  of  violently  laying 
hands  on  capitalist  property. 

It  is  also  easily  understood  why  Proudhon  took 
up  the  idea  later  on.  In  his  Mutualist  system 
he  tried  to  make  Capital  less  offensive,  notwith- 
standing the  retaining  of  private  property,  which  he 


202  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

detested  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  but  which  he 
believed  to  be  necessary  to  guarantee  individuals 
against  the  State. 

Neither  is  it  astonishing  that  certain  economists, 
more  or  less  bourgeois,  admit  labour-cheques 
They  care  little  whether  the  worker  is  paid  in 
labour-notes  or  in  coin  stamped  with  the  effigy 
of  the  Republic  or  the  Empire.  They  only  care 
to  save  from  destruction  individual  ownership  of 
dwelling-houses,  of  land,  of  factories;  in  any  case 
that  of  dwelling-houses  and  the  capital  that  is 
necessary  for  manufacturing.  And  labour-notes 
would  just  answer  the  purpose  of  upholding  this 
private  property. 

As  long  as  labour-notes  can  be  exchanged  for 
jewels  or  carriages,  the  owner  of  the  house  will 
willingly  accept  them  for  rent.  And  as  long  as 
dwelling-houses,  fields,  and  factories  belong  to 
isolated  owners,  men  wall  have  to  pay  them, 
in  one  way  or  another,  for  being  allowed  to  work 
in  the  fields  or  factories,  or  for  living  in  the 
houses.  The  owners  will  accept  to  be  paid 
by  the  workers  in  gold,  in  paper-money,  or  in 
cheques  exchangeable  for  all  sorts  of  commodities. 
But  how  can  we  defend  labour-notes,  this  new  form 
of  wagedom,  when  we  admit  that  houses,  fields, 
and  factories  will  no  longer  be  private  property, 
and  that  they  will  belong  to  the  commime  or  the 
nation  ? 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    203 


II 

Let  us  closely  examine  this  system  of  remunera- 
tion for  work  done,  preached  by  French,  German, 
English,  and  Italian  coUectivists  (Spanish  anar- 
chists, who  still  call  themselves  coUectivists,  imply 
by  Collectivism  the  possession  in  common  of  all 
instruments  of  production,  and  the  "liberty  of 
each  group  to  divide  the  produce,  as  they  think 
fit,  according  to  communist  or  any  other  principles  "). 

It  amounts  to  this:  Everybody  works  in  field, 
factory,  school,  hospital,  etc.  The  working-day 
is  fixed  by  the  State,  which  owns  land,  factories, 
roads,  etc.  Every  work-day  is  paid  for  with  a 
labour-note,  which  is  inscribed  with  these  words: 
Eight  hours  work.  With  this  cheque  the  worker 
can  procure  all  sorts  of  merchandise  in  the  stores 
owned  by  the  State  or  by  divers  corporations. 
The  cheque  is  divisible,  so  that  you  can  buy  an 
hour's-work  worth  of  meat,  ten  minutes  worth 
of  matches,  or  half  an  hour  of  tobacco.  After  the 
Collectivist  Revolution,  instead  of  saying  "two- 
pence worth  of  soap,"  we  shall  say  "five  minutes 
worth  of  soap." 

Most  coUectivists,  true  to  the  distinction  laid 
down  by  middle-class  economists  (and  by  Marx) 
between  qualified  work  and  simple  work,  tell  us, 
moreover,  that  qualified  or  professional  work  must 
be  paid  a  certain  quantity  more  than  simple  work. 
Thus  an  hour's  work  of  a  doctor  will  have  to  be 
considered  as  equivalent  to  two  or  three  hours' 


204  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

work  of  a  hospital  nurse,  or  to  three  hours'  work 
of  a  navvy.  "Professional,  or  qualified  work,  will 
be  a  multiple  of  simple  work,"  says  the  coUectivist 
Gronlund,  "because  this  kind  of  work  needs  a  more 
or  less  long  apprenticeship." 

Other  coUectivists,  such  as  the  French  Marxists, 
do  not  make  this  distinction.  They  proclaim 
"Equality  of  Wages."  The  doctor,  the  school- 
master, and  the  professor  will  be  paid  (in  labour- 
cheques)  at  the  same  rate  as  the  navvy.  Eight 
hours  visiting  the  sick  in  a  hospital  will  be  worth 
the  same  as  eight  hours  spent  in  earthworks  or 
else  in  mines  or  factories. 

Some  make  a  greater  concession ;  they  admit  that 
disagreeable  or  unhealthy  work  —  such  as  sewerage 
• —  could  be  paid  for  at  a  higher  rate  than  agree- 
able work.  One  hour's  work  of  a  sewerman  would 
be  worth,  they  say,  two  hoiurs  of  a  professor's 
work. 

Let  us  add  that  certain  coUectivists  admit  of 
corporations  paying  a  lump  sum  for  work  done. 
Thus  a  corporation  would  say:  "Here  are  a  hundred 
tons  of  steel.  A  hundred  workmen  were  required 
to  produce  them,  and  it  took  them  ten  days.  Their 
work-day  being  an  eight-hours  day,  it  has  taken 
them  eight  thousand  working  hours  to  produce  a 
hundred  tons  of  steel  —  eight  hours  a  ton."  For 
this  the  State  would  pay  them  eight  thousand 
labour-notes  of  one  hour  each,  and  these  eight 
thousand  cheques  would  be  divided  among  the 
members  of  the.  iron-works  as  they  themselves 
thought  proper. 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    205 

On  the  other  hand,  a  hundred  miners  having 
taken  twenty  days  to  extract  eight  thousand  tons 
of  coal,  coal  would  be  worth  two  hoiirs  a  ton, 
and  the  sixteen  thousand  cheques  of  one  hour 
each,  received  by  the  Guild  of  Miners,  would  be 
divided  among  their  members  according  to  their 
own  appreciation. 

If  the  miners  protested,  and  said  that  a  ton 
of  steel  should  only  cost  six  hours'  work  instead 
of  eight;  if  the  professor  wished  to  have  his  day 
paid  twice  more  than  the  nurse,  then  the  State 
would  interfere  and  would  settle  their  differences. 

Such  is,  in  a  few  words,  the  organization  col- 
lectivists  wish  to  see  arise  out  of  the  Social  Revolu- 
tion. As  we  see,  their  principles  are:  Collective 
property  of  the  instruments  of  production,  and 
remimeration  to  each  according  to  the  time  spent 
in  producing,  while  taking  into  account  the  pro- 
ductivity of  his  labour.  As  to  the  political  system, 
it  would  be  Parliamentarianism  modified  by  positive 
instructions  given  to  those  elected,  by  the  Referen- 
dum —  a  vote,  taken  by  noes  or  ayes  by  the  nation. 

I^et  us  own  that  this  system  appears  to  us 
imreaHzable. 

Collectivists  begin  by  proclaiming  a  revolu- 
tionary principle  —  the  abolition  of  private  property 
—  then  they  deny  it  no  sooner  than  proclaimed 
by  upholding  an  organization  of  production  and 
consumption  that  originated  in  private  property. 

They  proclaim  a  revolutionary  principle,  and 
ignore  the  consequences  that  this  principle  will 
inevitably    bring    about.    They    forget    that    the 


2o6  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

very  fact  of  abolishing  individxial  property  in  the 
instruments  of  work  —  land,  factories,  road,  capital, 
—  must  launch  society  into  absolutely  new  chan- 
nels; must  completely  overthrow  the  present 
system  of  production,  both  in  its  aim  as  well  as 
in  its  means;  must  modify  daily  relations  between 
individuals,  as  soon  as  land,  machinery,  and 
all  other  instruments  of  production  are  considered 
common  property. 

They  say,  "No  private  property,"  and  imme- 
diately after  strive  to  maintain  private  property 
in  its  daily  manifestations.  "You  shall  be  a  Com- 
mune as  far  as  regards  production:  fields,  tools, 
machinery,  all  that  has  been  invented  up  till 
now  —  factories,  railways,  harbours,  mines,  etc.,  all 
are  yours.  Not  the  slightest  distinction  will  be 
made  concerning  the  share  of  each  in  this  collective 
property. 

"  But  from  to-morrow  you  will  minutely  debate 
the  share  you  are  going  to  take  in  the  creation  of 
new  machinery,  in  the  digging  of  new  mines.  You 
will  carefully  weigh  what  part  of  the  new  produce 
belongs  to  you.  You  will  count  your  minutes  of 
work,  and  you  will  take  care  that  a  minute  of  your 
neighbours  cannot  buy  more  than  yours. 

"And  as  an  hour  measures  nothing,  as  in  some 
factories  a  worker  can  see  to  six  power-looms  at 
a  time,  while  in  another  he  only  tends  two,  you 
will  weigh  the  muscular  force,  the  brain  energy, 
and  the  nervous  energy  you  have  expended.  You 
will  accurately  calculate  the  years  of  apprentice- 
ship  in   order  to   appraise   the   amount   each   will 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    207 

contribute  to  future  production.  And  this  —  after 
having  declared  that  you  do  not  take  into  account 
his  share  in  past  production," 

Well,  for  us  it  is  evident  that  a  society  cannot 
be  based  on  two  absolutely  opposed  principles, 
two  principles  that  contradict  one  another  con- 
tinually. And  a  nation  or  a  commune  that  would 
have  such  an  organization  would  be  compelled  to 
revert  to  private  property  in  the  instruments  of 
production,  or  to  transform  itself  immediately  into 
a  communist  society. 

Ill 

We  have  said  that  certain  collectivist  writers 
desire  that  a  distinction  should  be  made  between 
qualified  or  professional  work  and  simple  work. 
They  pretend  that  an  hour's  work  of  an  engineer, 
an  architect,  or  a  doctor,  must  be  considered  as 
two  or  three  hours'  work  of  a  blacksmith,  a  mason, 
or  a  hospital  nurse.  And  the  same  distinction 
must  be  made  between  all  sorts  of  trades  necessi- 
tating a  more  or  less  long  apprenticeship  and  the 
simple  toil  of  day  labourers. 

Well,  to  establish  this  distinction  would  be  to 
maintain  all  the  inequalities  of  present  society. 
It  would  mean  fixing  a  dividing  line,  from  the 
beginning,  between  the  workers  and  those  who 
pretend  to  govern  them.  It  would  mean  dividing 
society  into  two  very  distinct  classes  —  the  aris- 
tocracy of  knowledge  above  the  homy-handed 
lower  orders  —  the  one  doomed  to  serve  the  other ; 
the  one  working  with  its  hands  to  feed  and  clothe 


2o8  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

those  who,  profiting  by  their  leisure,  study  how  to 
govern  their  fosterers. 

It  would  mean  reviving  one  of  the  distinct 
peculiarities  of  present  society  and  giving  it  the 
sanction  of  the  Social  Revolution.  It  would  mean 
setting  up  as  a  principle  an  abuse  already  con- 
demned in  our  ancient  crumbling  society. 

We  know  the  answer  we  shall  get.  They  will 
speak  of  "Scientific  Socialism";  they  will  quote 
bourgeois  economists,  and  Marx  too,  to  prove  that 
a  scale  of  wages  has  its  raison  d'etre,  as  "the  labour- 
force"  of  the  engineer  will  have  cost  more  to  society 
than  the  "labour-force"  of  the  navvy.  In  fact,  — 
have  not  economists  tried  to  prove  to  us  that  if  an 
engineer  is  paid  twenty  times  more  than  a  navvy  it 
is  because  the  "necessary"  outlay  to  make  an 
engineer  is  greater  than  that  necessary  to  make  a 
navvy?  And  has  not  Marx  asserted  that  the  same 
distinction  is  equally  logical  between  two  branches 
of  manual  labour?  He  could  not  conclude  other- 
wise, having  on  his  own  account  taken  up  Ricardo's 
theory  of  value,  and  upheld  that  goods  are  exchanged 
in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  work  socially 
necessar}''  for  their  production. 

But  we  know  what  to  think  of  this.  We  know 
that  if  engineers,  scientists,  or  doctors  are  paid  ten 
or  a  hundred  times  more  than  a  labourer,  and 
that  a  weaver  earns  three  times  more  than  an 
agricultural  labourer,  and  ten  times  more  than  a 
girl  in  a  match  factory,  it  is  not  by  reason  of  their 
"cost  of  production,"  but  by  reason  of  a  monopoly 
of  education,  or  a  monopoly  of  industry.     Engineers, 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    209 

scientists,  and  doctors  merely  exploit  their  capital 
—  their  diplomas  —  as  middle-class  employers  ex- 
ploit a  factory,  or  as  nobles  used  to  exploit  their 
titles  of  nobility. 

As  to  the  employer  who  pays  an  engineer  twenty 
times  more  than  a  labourer,  it  is  simply  due  to 
personal  interest;  if  the  engineer  can  economize 
;^4ooo  a  year  on  the  cost  of  production,  the 
employer  pays  him  ;^8oo.  And  if  the  employer 
has  a  foreman  who  saves  ;^4oo  on  the  work  by 
cleverly  sweating  workmen,  he  gladly  gives  him 
£80  or  ;^i2o  a  year.  He  parts  with  an  extra  ;^4o 
when  he  expects  to  gain  ;j^4oo  by  it ;  and  this  is  the 
essence  of  the  Capitalist  system.  The  same  dif- 
ferences obtain  among  divers  manual  trades. 

Let  them,  therefore,  not  talk  to  us  of  "the  cost 
of  production"  which  raises  the  cost  of  skilled 
labour,  and  tell  us  that  a  student  who  has  gaily 
spent  his  youth  in  a  university  has  a  right  to  a 
wage  ten  times  greater  than  the  son  of  a  miner  who 
has  grown  pale  in  a  mine  since  the  age  of  eleven ;  or 
that  a  weaver  has  a  right  to  a  wage  three  or  four 
times  greater  than  that  of  an  agricultural  labourer. 
The  cost  of  teaching  a  weaver  his  work  is  not  four 
times  greater  than  the  cost  of  teaching  a  peasant 
his.  The  weaver  simply  benefits  by  the  advantages 
his  industry  reaps  in  Europe,  in  comparison  with 
countries  that  have  as  yet  no  industries. 

Nobody  has  ever  calculated  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion; and  if  a  loafer  costs  far  more  to  society  than 
a  worker,  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  a  robust 
day-labourer  does  not  cost  more  to  society  than 


2IO  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

a  skilled  artisan,  when  we  have  taken  into  account 
infant-mortality  among  the  poor,  the  ravages  of 
anaemia,  and  premature  deaths. 

Could  they,  for  example,  make  us  believe  that 
the  IS.  3d.  paid  to  a  Paris  workwoman,  the  3d.  paid 
to  an  Auvergne  peasant  girl  who  grows  blind  at 
lace-making,  or  the  is.  8d.  paid  to  the  peasant 
represent  their  "cost  of  production."  We  know 
full  well  that  people  work  for  less,  but  we  also  know 
that  they  do  so  exclusively  because,  thanks  to  our 
wonderful  organization,  they  would  die  of  hunger 
did  they  not  accept  these  mock  wages. 

For  us  the  scale  of  remuneration  is  a  complex 
result  of  taxes,  of  governmental  tutelage,  of  Capi- 
talist monopoly.  In  a  word,  of  State  and  Capital. 
Therefore,  we  say  that  all  wages  theories  have  been 
invented  after  the  event  to  justify  injustices  at 
present  existing,  and  that  we  need  not  take  them 
into  consideration. 

Neither  will  they  fail  to  tell  us  that  the  Col- 
lectivist  scale  of  wages  would  be  an  improvement. 
"It  would  be  better,"  so  they  say,  "to  see  certain 
artisans  receiving  a  wage  two  or  three  times  higher 
thap  common  labourers,  than  to  see  a  minister 
receiving  in  a  day  what  a  workman  cannot  earn 
in  a  year.  It  would  be  a  great  step  towards 
equality." 

For  us  this  step  would  be  the  reverse  of  progress. 
To  make  a  distinction  between  simple  and  pro- 
fessional work  in  a  new  society  would  result  in  the 
Revolution  sanctioning  and  recognizing  as  a  prin- 
ciple a  brutal  fact  we  submit  to  nowadays,  but  that 


The  Collect! vist  Wages  System    211 

we  nevertheless  find  unjust.  It  would  mean 
imitating  those  gentlemen  of  the  French  Assembly 
who  proclaimed  August  4th,  1789,  the  abolition  of 
feudal  rights,  but  who  on  August  8th  sanctioned 
these  same  rights  by  imposing  dues  on  the  peasants 
to  compensate  the  noblemen,  placing  these  dues 
under  the  protection  of  the  Revolution.  It  would 
mean  imitating  the  Russian  Government,  which 
proclaimed,  at  the  time  of  the  emancipation  of  the 
serfs,  that  the  land  should  henceforth  belong  to  the 
nobility,  while  formerly  the  lands  were  considered 
belonging  to  the  serfs. 

Or  else,  to  take  a  better  known  example,  when 
the  Commune  of  187 1  decided  to  pay  members 
of  the  Commune  Council  12s.  6d.  a  day,  while  the 
Federates  on  the  ramparts  received  only  is.  3d., 
this  decision  was  hailed  as  an  act  of  superior 
democratic  equality.  In  reality,  the  Commune 
only  ratified  the  former  inequality  between  func- 
tionary and  soldier.  Government  and  governed. 
Coming  from  an  Opportunist  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties, such  a  decision  would  have  appeared  admir- 
able, but  the  Commune  doomed  her  revolutionary 
principles  because  she  failed  to  put  them  into 
practice. 

Under  our  existing  social  system,  when  a 
minister  gets  paid  ;^4ooo  a  year,  while  a  workman 
must  content  himself  with  ;^4o  or  less;  when  a 
foreman  is  paid  two  or  three  times  more  than 
a  workman,  and  among  workmen  there  is  every 
gradation,  from  8s.  a  day  down  to  the  peasant 
girl's  3d.;  we  disapprove  of  the  high  salary  of  the 


212  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

minister  as  well  as  of  the  difference  between  the  8s. 
of  the  workman  and  the  3d.  of  the  poor  woman. 
And  we  say,  "  Down  with  the  privileges  of  education, 
as  well  as  with  those  of  birth!"  We  are  anarchists 
precisely  because  these  privileges  revolt  us. 

They  revolt  us  already  in  this  authoritarian 
society.  Could  we  endure  them  in  a  society  that 
began  by  proclaiming  equality? 

That  is  why  some  collectivists,  understanding  the 
impossibility  of  maintaining  a  scale  of  wages  in  a 
society  inspired  by  the  breath  of  the  Revolution, 
hasten  to  proclaim  equality  of  wage.  But  they 
meet  with  new  difficulties,  and  their  equality  of 
wages  becomes  the  same  unrealizable  Utopia  as 
the  scale  of  wages  of  other  collectivists. 

A  society  having  taken  possession  of  all  social 
wealth,  having  boldly  proclaimed  the  right  of  all 
to  this  wealth  —  whatever  share  they  may  have 
taken  in  producing  it  —  will  be  compelled  to  aban- 
don any  system  of  wages,  whether  in  currency  or 
labour-notes. 

IV 

The  collectivists  say,  "To  each  according  to 
his  deeds";  or,  in  other  terms,  according  to 
his  share  of  services  rendered  to  society.  They 
think  it  expedient  to  put  this  principle  into 
practice  as  soon  as  the  Social  Revolution  will  have 
made  all  instruments  of  production  common 
property.  But  we  think  that  if  the  Social  Revolu- 
tion had  the  misfortune  of  proclaiming  such  a 
principle,    it    would    mean    its    necessary    failure; 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    213 

it  would  mean  leaving  the  social  problem,  which 
past  centuries  have  burdened  us  with,  unsolved. 
In  fact,  in  a  society  like  ours,  in  which  the  more  a 
man  works  the  less  he  is  remunerated,  this  principle, 
at  first  sight,  may  appear  to  be  a  yearning 
for  justice.  But  it  is  really  only  the  perpetuation 
of  past  injustice.  It  was  by  virtue  of  this  principle 
that  wagedom  began,  to  end  in  the  glaring  in- 
equalities and  all  the  abominations  of  present 
society;  because,  from  the  moment  work  done 
was  appraised  in  currency  or  in  any  other  form  of 
wage,  the  day  it  was  agreed  upon  that  man  would 
only  receive  the  wage  he  could  secure  to  himself, 
the  whole  history  of  State-aided  Capitalist  Society 
was  as  good  as  written;  it  germinated  in  this 
principle. 

Shall  we,  then,  return  to  our  starting-point  and 
go  through  the  same  evolution  again?  Our 
theorists  desire  it,  but  fortunately  it  is  impossible. 
The  Revolution  will  be  communist;  if  not,  it  will 
be  drowned  in  blood,  and  have  to  be  begxin  over 
again. 

Seryices  rendered  to  society,  be  they  work  in  fac- 
tory or  field,  or  mental  services,  cannot  be  valued 
in  money.  There  can  be  no  exact  measure  of 
value  (of  what  has  been  wrongly  termed  exchange 
value),  nor  of  use  value,  with  regard  to  production. 
If  two  individuals  work  for  the  community  five 
hours  a  day,  year  in  year  out,  at  different  work 
which  is  equally  agreeable  to  them,  we  may  say 
that  on  the  whole  their  labour  is  equivalent. 
But  we  cannot  divide  their  work,   and  say  that 


214  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

the  result  of  any  particular  day,  hour,  or  minute 
of  work  of  the  one  is  worth  the  result  of  a  minute 
or  hoiir  of  the  other. 

We  may  roughly  say  that  the  man  who  during 
his  lifetime  has  deprived  himself  of  leisure  during 
ten  hours  a  day  has  given  far  more  to  society  than 
the  one  who  has  only  deprived  himself  of  leisure 
during  five  hours  a  day,  or  who  has  not  deprived 
himself  at  all.  But  we  cannot  take  what  he  has 
done  during  two  hours  and  say  that  the  yield  is 
worth  twice  as  much  as  the  yield  of  another  indi- 
vidual, working  only  one  hour,  and  remunerate  him 
in  proportion.  It  would  be  disregarding  all  that  is 
complex  in  industry,  in  agriculture,  in  the  whole 
life  of  present  society;  it  would  be  ignoring  to 
what  extent  all  individual  work  is  the  result  of 
past  and  present  labour  of  society  as  a  whole. 
It  would  mean  believing  ourselves  to  be  Hving  in 
the  Stone  Age,  whereas  we  are  living  in  an  age  of 
steel. 

If  you  enter  a  coal-mine  you  will  see  a  man  in 
charge  of  a  huge  machine  that  raises  and  lowers  a 
cage.  In  his  hand  he  holds  a  lever  that  stops  and 
reverses  the  course  of  the  machine;  he  lowers  it 
and  the  cage  turns  back  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye;  he  raises  it,  he  lowers  it  again  with  a  giddy 
swiftness.  All  attention,  he  follows  with  his  eyes 
fixed  on  the  wall  an  indicator  that  shows  him, 
on  a  small  scale,  at  which  point  of  the  shaft  the 
cage  is  at  each  second  of  its  progress;  as  soon  as 
the  indicator  has  reached  a  certain  level  he 
suddenly  stops  the  course  of  the  cage,  not  a  yard 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System     215 

higher  nor  lower  than  the  required  spot.  And  no 
sooner  have  the  colliers  unloaded  their  coal-wagons, 
and  pushed  empty  ones  instead,  than  he  reverses 
the  lever  and  again  sends  the  cage  back  into  space. 

During  eight  or  ten  consecutive  hours  he  must 
pay  the  closest  attention.  Should  his  brain  relax 
for  a  moment,  the  cage  would  inevitably  strike 
against  the  gear,  break  its  wheels,  snap  the  rope, 
crush  men,  and  obstruct  work  in  the  mine.  Should 
he  waste  three  seconds  at  each  touch  of  the  lever, 
in  our  modem  perfected  mines,  the  extraction 
would  be  reduced  from  twenty  to  fifty  tons  a  day. 

Is  it  he  who  is  of  greatest  use  in  the  mine? 
Or,  is  it  perhaps  the  boy  who  signals  to  him  from 
below  to  raise  the  cage?  Is  it  the  miner  at  the 
bottom  of  the  shaft,  who  risks  his  life  every  instant, 
and  who  will  some  day  be  killed  by  fire-damp?  Or 
is  it  the  engineer,  who  would  lose  the  layer  of  coal, 
and  would  cause  the  miners  to  dig  on  rock  by  a 
simple  mistake  in  his  calculations?  And  lastly, 
is  it  the  mine  owner  who  has  put  all  his  capital 
into  the  mine,  and  who  has  perhaps,  contrary  to 
expert  advice,  asserted  that  excellent  coal  would  be 
found  there? 

All  the  miners  engaged  in  this  mine  contribute 
to  the  extraction  of  coal  in  proportion  to  their 
strength,  their  energy,  their  knowledge,  their 
intelligence,  and  their  skill.  And  we  may  say 
that  all  have  the  right  to  live,  to  satisfy  their 
needs,  and  even  their  whims,  when  the  necessaries 
of  life  have  been  secured  for  all.  But  how  can  we 
appraise  their  work? 


2i6  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

And,  moreover,  Is  the  coal  they  have  extracted 
their  work?  Is  it  not  also  the  work  of  men  who 
have  built  the  railway  leading  to  the  mine  and 
the  roads  that  radiate  from  all  its  stations?  Is 
it  not  also  the  work  of  those  that  have  tilled  and 
sown  the  fields,  extracted  iron,  cut  wood  in  the 
forests,  built  the  machines  that  bum  coal,  and 
so  on? 

No  distinction  can  be  drawn  between  the  work 
of  each  man.  Measuring  the  work  by  its  results 
leads  us  to  absurdity;  dividing  and  measuring 
them  by  hours  spent  on  the  work  also  leads  us  to 
absurdity.  One  thing  remains:  put  the  needs 
above  the  works,  and  first  of  all  recognize  the  right 
to  live,  and  later  on,  to  the  comforts  of  life,  for 
all  those  who  take  their  share  in  production. 

But  take  any  other  branch  of  human  activity 

—  take  the  manifestations  of  life  as  a  whole. 
Which  one  of  us  can  claim  the  higher  remuneration 
for  his  work?  Is  it  the  doctor  who  has  found  out 
the  illness,  or  the  nurse  who  has  brought  about 
recovery  by  her  hygienic  care  ?  Is  it  the  inventor 
of  the  first  steam-engine,  or  the  boy,  who,  one 
day  getting  tired  of  pulling  the  rope  that  formerly 
opened  the  valve  to  let  steam  enter  under  the 
piston,  tied  the  rope  to  the  lever  of  the  machine, 
without  suspecting  that  he  had  invented  the 
essential  mechanical  part  of  all  modem  machinery 

—  the  automatic  valve. 

Is  it  the  inventor  of  the  locomotive,  or  the  work- 
man of  Newcastle,  who  suggested  replacing  the 
stones   formerly   laid   under   the   rails   by   wooden 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    217 

sleepers,  as  the  stones,  for  want  of  elasticity,  caused 
the  trains  to  derail?  Is  it  the  engineer  on  the 
locomotive?  The  signalman  who  can  stop  trains? 
The  switchman  who  transfers  a  train  from  one  line 
to  another  ?  —  To  whom  do  we  owe  the  trans- 
atlantic cable  ?  Is  it  to  the  engineer  who  obstinately- 
affirmed  that  the  cable  would  transmit  messages 
when  learned  electricians  declared  it  to  be 
impossible?  Is  it  to  Maury,  the  scientist,  who 
advised  that  thick  cables  should  be  set  aside  for 
others  as  thin  as  canes  ?  Or  else  to  those  volunteers, 
come  from  nobody  knows  where,  who  spent  their 
days  and  nights  on  deck  minutely  examining  every 
yard  of  the  cable,  and  removed  the  nails  that  the 
stockholders  of  steamship  companies  stupidly  caused 
to  be  driven  into  the  non-conducting  wrapper  of 
the  cable,  so  as  to  make  it  unserviceable. 

And  in  a  wider  sphere,  the  true  sphere  of  life, 
with  its  joys,  its  sufferings,  and  its  accidents,  can- 
not each  one  of  us  recall  some  one  who  has  rendered 
him  so  great  a  service  that  we  should  be  indignant 
if  its  equivalent  in  coin  were  mentioned?  The 
service  may  have  been  but  a  word,  nothing  but  a 
word  spoken  at  the  right  time,  or  else  it  may  have 
been  months  and  years  of  devotion,  and  are  we 
going  to  appraise  these  "incalculable"  services  in 
"labour-notes"  ? 

"The  works  of  each!"  But  human  society 
would  not  exist  for  more  than  two  consecutive 
generations  if  every  one  did  not  give  infinitely 
more  than  that  for  which  he  is  paid  in  coin,  in 
"cheques,"   or  in  civic  rewards.     The  race  would 


2i8  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

soon  become  extinct  if  mothers  did  not  sacrifice 
their  lives  to  take  care  of  their  children,  if  men  did 
not  give  all  the  time,  without  demanding  an  equiva- 
lent, if  men  did  not  give  just  to  those  from  whom 
they  expect  no  reward. 

If  middle-class  society  is  decaying,  if  we  have 
got  into  a  blind  alley  from  which  we  cannot  emerge 
without  attacking  past  institutions  with  torch 
and  hatchet,  it  is  precisely  because  we  have  cal- 
culated too  much.  It  is  because  we  have  let  our- 
selves be  influenced  into  giving  only  to  receive. 
It  is  because  we  have  aimed  at  turning  society  into 
a  commercial  company  based  on  debit  and  credit. 

CoUectivists  know  this.  They  vaguely  under- 
stand that  a  society  could  not  exist  if  it  carried  out 
the  principle  of  "Each  according  to  his  deeds." 
They  have  a  notion  that  necessaries  —  we  do  not 
speak  of  whims  —  the  needs  of  the  individual,  do 
not  always  correspond  to  his  works.  Thus  De 
Paepe  tells  us:  "The  principle  —  the  eminently 
Individualist  principle — would,  however,  be  tempered 
by  social  intervention,  for  the  education  of  children 
and  young  persons  (including  maintenance  and 
lodging),  and  by  the  social  organization  for  assisting 
the  infirm  and  the  sick,  for  retreats  for  aged  workers, 
etc."  They  understand  that  a  man  of  forty, 
father  of  three  children,  has  other  needs  than  a 
young  man  of  twenty.  They  know  that  the  woman 
who  suckles  her  infant  and  spends  sleepless  nights 
at  its  bedside,  cannot  do  as  much  work  as  the  man 
who  has  slept  peacefully.  They  seem  to  take  in 
that  men  and  women,  worn  out  maybe  by  dint  of 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    219 

overwork  for  society,  may  be  incapable  of  doing  as 
much  work  as  those  who  have  spent  their  time 
leisurely  and  pocketed  their  "labour-notes"  in  the 
privileged  career  of  State  functionaries. 

They  are  eager  to  temper  their  principle.  They 
say:  "Society  will  not  fail  to  maintain  and  bring 
up  its  children ;  to  help  both  aged  and  infirm.  With- 
out doubt  needs  will  be  the  measure  of  the  cost  that 
society  will  burden  itself  with,  to  temper  the 
principle  of  deeds." 

Charity,  charity,  always  Christian  charity, 
organized  by  the  State  this  time.  They  believe  in 
improving  asylums  for  foimdlings,  in  effecting 
old-age  and  sick  insurances  —  so  as  to  temper  their 
principle.  But "  they  cannot  yet  throw  aside  ^he 
idea  of  "wounding  first  and  healing  afterwards!" 

Thus,  after  having  denied  Communism,  after 
having  laughed  at  their  ease  at  the  formula  — 
"To  each  according  to  his  needs"  —  these  great 
economists  discover  that  they  have  forgotten  some- 
thing, the  needs  of  the  producers,  which  they  now 
admit.  Only  it  is  for  the  State  to  estimate  them, 
for  the  State  to  verify  if  the  needs  are  not  dispro- 
portionate to  the  work. 

The  State  will  dole  out  charity.  Thence  to  the 
English  poor-law  and  the  workhouse  is  but  a  step. 

There  is  but  a  degree,  because  even  this  step- 
mother of  a  society  against  whom  we  are  in  revolt 
has  also  been  compelled  to  temper  her  individualist 
principles;  she,  too,  has  had  to  make  concessions  in 
a  communist  direction  and  under  the  same  form  of 
charity. 


aao  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

She,  too,  distributes  halfpenny  dinners  to  pre- 
vent the  pillaging  of  her  shops;  builds  hospitals 
—  often  very  bad  ones,  though  sometimes  splendid 
ones  —  to  prevent  the  ravages  of  contagious  dis- 
eases. She,  too,  after  having  paid  the  hours  of 
labour,  shelters  the  children  of  those  she  has  wrecked. 
She  takes  their  needs  into  consideration  and  doles 
out  charity. 

Poverty,  we  have  said  elsewhere,  was  the  primary 
cause  of  wealth.  It  was  poverty  that  created  the 
first  capitalist;  because,  before  accumulating  "sur- 
plus value,"  of  which  we  hear  so  much,  men  had  to 
be  sufficiently  destitute  to  consent  to  sell  their 
labour,  so  as  not  to  die  of  hunger.  It  was  poverty 
that  made  capitalists.  And  if  the  number  of  poor 
rapidly  increased  during  the  Middle  Ages,  it  was  due 
to  the  invasions  and  wars  that  followed  the  founding 
of  States,  and  to  the  increase  of  riches  resulting 
from  the  exploitation  of  the  East,  that  tore  the 
bonds  asunder  which  once  united  agrarian  and 
urban  communities,  and  taught  them  to  proclaim 
the  principle  of  wages,  so  dear  to  exploiters,  instead 
of  the  solidarity  they  formerly  practised. 

And  it  is  this  principle  that  is  to  spring  from 
a  revolution  which  men  dare  to  call  by  the  name 
of  Social  Revolution,  a  name  so  dear  to  the  starved, 
the  oppressed,  and  the  sufferers? 

It  can  never  be.  For  the  day  on  which  old  insti- 
tutions will  fall  under  the  proletarian  axe,  voices 
will  cry  out:  "Bread,  shelter,  ease  for  all!"  And 
those  voices  will  be  listened  to;  the  people  will  say: 
"Let  us  begin  by  allaying  our  thirst  for  life,  for 


The  Collectivist  Wages  System    221 

happiness,  for  liberty,  that  we  have  never  quenched. 
And  when  we  shall  have  tasted  of  this  joy  we  will 
set  to  work  to  demolish  the  last  vestiges  of  middle- 
class  rule,  its  morality  drawn  from  account-books, 
its  'debit  and  credit'  philosophy,  its  'mine  and 
yours'  institutions.  '  In  demolishing  we  shall  build,' 
as  Proudhon  said ;  and  we  shall  build  in  the  name  of 
Communism  and  Anarchy." 


CHAPTER  XIV 
Consumption  and  Production 


Looking  at  society  and  its  political  organization 
from  a  different  standpoint  than  that  of  authori- 
tarian schools  —  for  we  start  from  a  free  individual 
to  reach  a  free  society,  instead  of  beginning  by  the 
State  to  come  down  to  the  individual  —  we  follow 
the  same  method  in  economic  questions.  We  study 
the  needs  of  individuals,  and  the  means  by  which 
they  satisfy  them,  before  discussing  Production, 
Exchange,  Taxation,  Government,  etc. 

To  begin  with,  the  difference  may  appear  trifling, 
but  in  reality  it  upsets  official  Political  Economy. 

If  you  open  the  works  of  any  economist  you  will 
find  that  he  begins  with  production,  the  analysis 
of  means  employed  nowadays  for  the  creation  of 
wealth;  division  of  labour,  manufacture,  machinery, 
accumulation  of  capital.  From  Adam  Smith  to 
Marx,  all  have  proceeded  along  these  lines.  Only  in 
the  latter  parts  of  their  books  do  they  treat  of 
consumption,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  means  necessary 
to  satisfy  the  needs  of  individuals;  and,  moreover, 
they  confine  themselves  to  explaining  how  riches  are 
divided  among  those  who  vie  with  one  another  for 
their  possession. 

Perhaps    you    will    say    this    is   logical.     Before 


Consumption  and  Production       223 

satisfying  needs  you  must  create  the  wherewithal 
to  satisfy  them.  But  before  producing  anything, 
must  you  not  feel  the  need  of  it  ?  Is  it  not  necessity 
that  first  drove  man  to  hunt,  to  raise  cattle,  to 
cultivate  land,  to  make  implements,  and  later 
on  to  invent  machinery?  Is  it  not  the  study  of 
needs  that  should  govern  production?  It  would 
therefore  be  quite  as  logical  to  begin  by  consider- 
ing needs  and  afterwards  to  discuss  the  means  of 
production  in  order  to  satisfy  these  needs. 

This  is  precisely  what  we  mean  to  do. 

But  as  soon  as  we  look  at  it  from  this  point  of 
view,  Political  Economy  entirely  changes  its  aspect. 
It  ceases  to  be  a  simple  description  of  facts,  and 
becomes  a  science.  We  can  define  it  as:  The 
study  of  the  needs  of  humanity,  and  the  means  of 
satisfying  them  with  the  least  possible  waste  of  human 
energy.  Its  true  name  should  be.  Physiology  of 
Society.  It  constitutes  a  parallel  science  to  the 
physiology  of  plants  and  animals,  which  also  is 
the  study  of  the  needs  of  plants  and  animals,  and 
the  most  advantageous  ways  of  satisfying  them. 
In  the  series  of  social  sciences,  the  economy  of 
himian  societies  takes  the  place,  occupied  in  the 
series  of  biological  sciences  by  the  physiology  of 
organic  bodies. 

We  say,  here  are  human  beings,  united  in  a 
society.  All  feel  the  need  of  living  in  healthy 
houses.  The  savage's  hut  no  longer  satisfies  them; 
they  require  a  more  or  less  comfortable  solid 
shelter.  The  question  is,  then:  whether,  man's 
capacity  for  production  being  given,   every  man 


224  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

can  have  a  house  of  his  own?  and  what  is  hindering 
him  from  having  it? 

And  we  are  soon  convinced  that  every  family 
in  Europe  could  perfectly  well  have  a  comfortable 
house,  such  as  are  built  in  England,  in  Belgium, 
or  in  Pullman  City,  or  else  an  equivalent  set  of 
rooms.  A  certain  number  of  days'  work  would 
suffice  to  btiild  a  pretty  little  airy  house,  well 
fitted  up  and  lighted  by  gas. 

But  nine-tenths  of  Europeans  have  never  possessed 
a  healthy  house,  because  at  all  times  common 
people  have  had  to  work  day  after  day  to  satisfy 
the  needs  of  their  rulers,  and  have  never  had  the 
necessary  leisure  or  money  to  build,  or  to  have  built, 
the  home  of  their  dreams.  And  they  can  have 
no  houses,  and  will  inhabit  hovels  as  long  as  present 
conditions  remain  unchanged. 

As  you  see,  we  proceed  contrary  to  economists, 
who  immortalize  these  so-called  laws  of  production, 
and  reckoning  up  the  number  of  houses  built 
every  year,  demonstrate  by  statistics,  that  the 
new  built  houses  not  sufficing  to  meet  all  demands, 
nine-tenths  of  Europeans  must  live  in  hovels. 

Let  us  pass  on  to  food.  After  having  enumerated 
the  benefits  accruing  from  the  division  of  labour, 
economists  tell  us  the  division  of  labour  requires 
that  some  men  should  work  at  agriculture  and 
others  at  manufacture.  Farmers  producing  so 
much,  factories  so  much,  exchange  being  carried 
on  in  such  a  way,  they  analyze  the  sale,  the  profit 
the  net  gain  or  the  surplus  value,  the  wages,  the 
taxes,  banking,  and  so  on. 


Consumption  and  Production       225 

But  after  having  followed  them  so  far,  we  are 
none  the  wiser,  and  if  we  ask  them:  "How  is  it 
that  millions  of  human  beings  are  in  want  of  bread, 
when  every  family  could  grow  sufficient  wheat  to 
feed  ten,  twenty,  and  even  a  hundred  people 
annually?"  they  answer  us  by  droning  the  same 
anthem  —  division  of  labour,  wages,  surplus  value, 
capital,  etc.  —  arriving  at  the  same  conclusion,  that 
production  is  insufficient  to  satisfy  all  needs;  a 
conclusion  which,  if  true,  does  not  answer  the 
question:  "Can  or  cannot  man  by  his  labo-ur 
produce  the  bread  he  needs?  And  if  he  cannot, 
what  is  hindering  him?" 

Here  are  350  million  Europeans.  They  need  so 
much  bread,  so  much  meat,  wine,  milk,  eggs,  and 
butter  every  year.  They  need  so  many  houses, 
so  much  clothing.  This  is  the  minimum  of  their 
needs.  Can  they  produce  all  this?  and  if  they 
can,  will  there  then  be  left  sufficient  leisure  for 
art,  science,  and  amusement?  —  in  a  word,  for 
everything  that  is  not  comprised  in  the  category 
of  absolute  necessities?  If  the  answer  is  in  the 
affirmative,  —  What  hinders  them  going  ahead  ? 
WTiat  must  they  do  to  remove  obstacles.^  Is 
time  needed?  Let  them  take  it!  But  let  us  not 
lose  sight  of  the  aim  of  production  —  the  satisfaction 
of  needs. 

If  the  most  imperious  needs  of  man  remain 
unsatisfied,  what  must  he  do  to  increase  the  pro- 
ductivity of  his  work  ?  And  is  there  no  other  cause  ? 
Might  it  not  be  that  production,  ha\'ing  lost  sight 
of  the  needs  of  man,  has  strayed  in  an  absolutely 


226  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

wrong  direction,  and  that  its  organization  is  at 
fault?  And  as  we  can  prove  that  such  is  the  case, 
let  us  see  how  to  reorganize  production  so  as  to 
really  satisfy  all  needs. 

This  seems  to  us  the  only  right  way  of  facing 
things.  The  only  way  that  would  allow  of 
Political  Economy  becoming  a  science  —  the  Science 
of  Social  Physiology. 

It  is  evident  that  when  this  science  will  treat 
of  production,  as  it  is  at  present  carried  on  by 
civilized  nations,  by  Hindoo  communes,  or  by 
savages,  it  will  hardly  state  facts  otherwise  than 
the  economists  state  them  now;  that  is  to  say, 
as  a  simple  descriptive  chapter,  analogous  to 
descriptive  chapters  of  Zoology  and  Botany. 
But  if  this  chapter  were  written  to  throw  light  on 
the  economy  of  energy,  necessary  to  satisfy  human 
needs,  the  chapter  would  gain  in  precision,  as  well 
as  in  descriptive  value.  It  would  clearly  prove 
the  frightful  waste  of  human  energy  under  the 
present  system,  and  would  admit,  as  we  do, 
that  as  long  as  this  system  exists,  the  needs  of 
humanity  will  never  be  satisfied. 

The  point  of  view,  we  see,  would  be  entirely 
changed.  Behind  the  loom  that  weaves  so  many 
yards  of  cloth,  behind  the  steel-plate  perforator, 
and  behind  the  safe  in  which  dividends  are  hoarded, 
we  should  see  man,  the  artisan  of  production,  more 
often  than  not  excluded  from  the  feast  he  has 
prepared  for  others.  We  should  also  understand 
that  the  standpoint  being  wrong,  so-called 
laws  of  value  and  exchange  are  but  a  very  false 


Consumption  and  Production       227 

explanation  of  events,  as  they  happen  nowadays; 
and  that  things  will  come  to  pass  very  differently 
when  production  is  organized  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  meet  all  needs  of  society. 


II 

There  is  not  one  single  principle  of  Political 
Economy  that  does  not  change  its  aspect  if  you 
look  at  it  from  our  point  of  view. 

Take,  for  instance,  over-production,  a  word  which 
every  day  re-echoes  in  our  ears.  Is  there  a  single 
economist,  academician,  or  candidate  for  academ- 
ical honours,  who  has  not  supported  arguments, 
proving  that  economic  crises  are  due  to  over- 
production —  that  at  a  given  moment  more  cotton, 
more  cloth,  more  watches  are  produced  than  are 
needed!  Have  not  men  accused  of  "rapacity" 
the  capitalists  who  are  obstinately  bent  on  pro- 
ducing more  than  can  possibly  be  consumed!  But 
on  careful  examination  all  these  reasonings  prove 
unsound.  In  fact,  Is  there  a  commodity  among 
those  in  universal  use  which  is  produced  in  greater 
quantity  than  need  be?  Examine  one  by  one  all 
commodities  sent  out  by  countries  exporting  on  a 
large  scale,  and  you  will  see  that  nearly  all  are 
produced  in  insufficient  quantities  for  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  countries  exporting  them. 

It  is  not  a  surplus  of  wheat  that  the  Russian 
peasant  sends  to  Europe.  The  most  plentiful  har- 
vests of  wheat  and  rye  in  European  Russia  only 
yield  enough  for  the  population.     And  as  a  rule  the 


228  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

peasant  deprives  himself  of  what  he  actually  needs 
when  he  sells  his  wheat  or  rye  to  pay  rent  and  taxes. 

It  is  not  a  surplus  of  coal  that  England  sends  to 
the  four  comers  of  the  globe,  because  only  three- 
quarters  of  a  ton,  per  head  of  population,  annu- 
ally, remain  for  home  domestic  consumption,  and 
millions  of  Englishmen  are  deprived  of  fire  in  the 
winter,  or  have  only  just  enough  to  boil  a  few 
vegetables.  In  fact,  setting  aside  useless  luxuries, 
there  is  in  England,  which  exports  more  than 
any  other  country,  but  a  single  commodity  in 
universal  use  —  cottons  —  whose  production  is  suffi- 
ciently great  to  perhaps  exceed  the  needs  of  the 
community.  Yet  when  we  look  upon  the  rags 
that  pass  for  wearing  apparel  worn  by  over  a  third 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  Kingdom,  we 
are  led  to  ask  ourselves  whether  the  cottons  exported 
would  not,  within  a  trifle,  suit  the  real  needs  of  the 
population  ? 

As  a  rule  it  is  not  a  surplus  that  is  exported, 
though  it  may  have  been  so  originally.  The  fable 
of  the  barefpoted  shoemaker  is  as  true  of  nations 
as  it  w^s  formerly  of  artisans.  We  export  the 
necessary  commodities.  And  we  do  so,  because 
the  workmen  cannot  buy  with  their  wages  what 
they  have  produced,  and  pay  besides  the  rent  and 
interest  to  the  capitalist  and  the  banker. 

Not  only  does  the  ever-growing  need  of  comfort 
remain  imsatisfied,  but  strict  necessaries  are  often 
wanting.  "Surplus  production"  does,  therefore, 
not  exist,  at  least  not  in  the  sense  which  is  given 
to  it  by  the  theorists  of  Political  Economy. 


Consumption  and  Production       229 

Taking  another  point  —  all  economists  tell  us 
that  there  is  a  well-proved  law:  "Man  produces 
more  than  he  consumes."  After  he  has  Hved  on 
the  proceeds  of  his  toil,  there  remains  a  surplus. 
Thus,  a  family  of  cultivators  produces  enough  to 
feed  several  families,  and  so  forth. 

For  us,  this  oft-repeated  sentence  has  no  sense. 
If  it  meant  that  each  generation  leaves  something 
to  future  generations,  it  would  be  true;  thus,  for 
example,  a  farmer  plants  a  tree  that  will  live, 
maybe,  for  thirty,  forty,  or  a  hundred  years,  and 
whose  fruits  will  still  be  gathered  by  the  farmer's 
grandchildren.  Or  he  clears  a  few  acres  of  virgin 
soil,  and  we  say  that'  the  heritage  of  future  gen- 
erations has  been  increased  by  that  much.  Roads, 
bridges,  canals,  his  house  and  his  furniture  are  so 
much  wealth  bequeathed  to  succeeding  generations. 

But  this  is  not  what  is  meant.  We  are  told  that 
the  cultivator  produces  more  than  he  need  con- 
sume. Rather  should  they  say  that,  the  State 
having  always  taken  from  him  a  large  share  of 
his  produce  for  taxes,  the  priest  for  tithe,  and  the 
landlord  for  rent,  a  whole  class  of  men  has  been 
created,  who  formerly  consumed  what  they  pro- 
duced —  save  what  was  set  aside  for  unforeseen 
accidents,  or  expenses  incurred  in  afforestation, 
roads,  etc.  —  but  who  to-day  are  compelled  to  live 
very  poorly,  from  hand  to  mouth,  the  remainder 
having  been  taken  from  them  by  the  State,  the 
landlord,  the  priest,  and  the  usurer. 

Let  us  also  observe  that  if  the  needs  of  the  indi- 
vidual  are   our  starting-point,   we  cannot  fail   to 


230  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

reach  Communism,  an  organization  which  enables 
us  to  satisfy  all  needs  in  the  most  thorough  and 
economical'  way.  While  if  we*  start  from  our 
present  method  of  production,  and  aim  at  gain  and 
surplus  value,  without  taking  into  account  if  pro- 
duction corresponds  to  the  satisfaction  of  needs, 
we  necessarily  arrive  at  Capitalism,  or  at  most  at 
Collectivism  —  both  being  but  divers  forms  of  our 
wages'  system. 

In  fact,  when  we  consider  the  needs  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  of  society,  and  the  means  which  man 
has  resorted  to  in  order  to  satisfy  them  during 
his  varied  phases  of  development,  we  are  convinced 
of  the  necessity  of  systematizing  our  efforts,  instead 
of  producing  haphazard  as  we  do  nowadays.  It 
grows  evident  that  the  appropriation  by  a  few  of 
all  riches  not  consumed,  and  transmitted  from  one 
generation  to  another,  is  not  in  the  general  interest. 
We  can  state  as  a  fact  that  owing  to  these  methods 
the  needs  of  three-quarters  of  society  are  not  satis- 
fied, and  that  the  present  waste  of  human  strength 
is  the  more  useless  and  the  more  criminal. 

We  discover,  moreover,  that  the  most  advan- 
tageous use  of  all  commodities  would  be,  for  each 
of  them,  to  go,  first,  for  satisfying  those  needs 
which  are  the  most  pressing:  that,  in  other  words, 
the  so-called  "value  in  use"  of  a  commodity  does 
not  depend  on  a  simple  whim,  as  has  often  been 
affirmed,  but  on  the  satisfaction  it  brings  to  real 
needs. 

Communism  —  that  is  to  say,  an  organization 
which  would  correspond  to  a  view  of  Consumption, 


Consumption  and  Production       231 

Production,  and  Exchange,  taken  as  a  whole  — 
therefore  becomes  the  logical  consequence  of  the 
comprehension  of  things,  the  only  one,  in  our 
opinion,  that  is  really  scientific. 

A  society  that  will  satisfy  the  needs  of  all,  and 
which  will  know  how  to  organize  production,  will 
also  have  to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  several  pre- 
judices concerning  industry,  and  first  of  all  of  the 
theory  often  preached  by  economists  —  The  Division 
of  Labour  theory  —  which  we  are  going  to  discuss 
in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER   XV 
The  Division  of  Labour 


Political  Economy  has  always  confined  itself  to 
stating  facts  occurring  in  society,  and  justifying 
them  in  the  interest  of  the  dominant  class.  Thus 
it  is  in  favour  of  the  division  of  labour  created  by 
industry.  Having  found  it  profitable  to  capitalists, 
it  has  set  it  up  as  a  principle. 

Look  at  the  village  smith,  said  Adam  Smith, 
the  father  of  modem  Political  Economy.  If  he  has 
never  been  accustomed  to  making  nails  he  will 
only  succeed  by  hard  toil  in  forging  two  to  three 
hundred  a  day,  and  even  then  they  will  be  bad. 
But  if  this  same  smith  has  never  done  anything 
but  nails,  he  will  easily  supply  as  many  as  two 
thousand  three  hundred  in  the  course  of  a  day. 
And  Smith  hastened  to  the  conclusion  —  "  Divide 
labour,  specialize,  go  on  specializing;  let  us  have 
smiths  who  only  know  how  to  make  heads  or  points 
of  nails,  and  by  this  means  we  shall  produce  more. 
We  shall  grow  rich." 

That  a  smith  sentenced  for  life  to  the  making 
of  heads  of  nails  would  lose  all  interest  in  his  work, 
would  be  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  his  employer 
with  his  limited  handicraft,  would  be  out  of  work 
four  months  out  of  twelve,  and  that  his  wages  would 

233 


The  Division  of  Labour  233 

decrease  when  he  could  be  easily  replaced  by  an 
apprentice,  Smith  did  not  think  of  it  when  he 
exclaimed  — "  Long  live  the  division  of  labour. 
This  is  the  real  gold-mine  that  will  enrich  the 
nation!"     And  all  joined  in  the  cry. 

And  later  on,  when  a  Sismondi  or  a  J.  B,  Say 
began  to  imderstand  that  the  division  of  labour, 
instead  of  enriching  the  whole  nation,  only  enriches 
the  rich,  and  that  the  worker,  who  for  life  is  doomed 
to  making  the  eighteenth  part  of  a  pin,  grows 
stupid  and  sinks  into  poverty  —  what  did  official 
economists  propose?  Nothing!  They  did  not  say 
to  themselves  that  by  a  lifelong  grind  at  one  and 
the  same  mechanical  toil  the  worker  would  lose 
his  intelligence  and  his  spirit  of  invention,  and 
that,  on  the  contrary,  a  variety  of  occupations 
would  result  in  considerably  augmenting  the 
productivity  of  a  nation.  But  this  is  the  very 
issue  now  before  us. 

If,  however,  only  economists  preached  the  per- 
manent and  often  hereditary  division  of  labour, 
we  might  allow  them  to  preach  it  as  much  as  they 
pleased.  But  ideas  taught  by  doctors  of  science 
filter  into  men's  minds  and  pervert  them;  and 
from  repeatedly  hearing  the  division  of  labour, 
profits,  interest,  credit,  etc.,  spoken  of  as  problems 
long  since  solved,  men,  and  workers  too,  end  by 
arguing  like  economists,  and  by  venerating  the 
same  fetishes. 

Thus  we  see  a  number  of  socialists,  even  those 
who  have  not  feared  to  point  out  the  mistakes  of 
science,    justifying   the   division   of   labour.    Talk 


234  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

to  them  about  the  organization  of  work  during 
the  Revolution,  and  they  answer  that  the  division 
of  labour  must  be  maintained;  that  if  you 
sharpened  pins  before  the  Revolution  you  must  go 
on  sharpening  them  after.  True,  you  will  not  have 
to  work  more  than  five  hours  a  day,  but  you  will 
have  to  sharpen  pins  all  your  life,  while  others  will 
make  designs  for  machines  that  will  enable  you  to 
sharpen  hundreds  of  millions  of  pins  during  your 
lifetime;  and  others  again  will  be  specialists  in  the 
higher  branches  of  literature,  science,  and  art,  etc. 
You  were  bom  to  sharpen  pins  while  Pasteur  was 
bom  to  invent  the  inoculation  against  anthrax, 
and  the  Revolution  will  leave  you  both  to  your 
respective  employments.  Well,  it  is  this  horrible 
principle,  so  noxious  to  society,  so  brutalizing  to 
the  individual,  source  of  so  much  harm,  that  we 
propose  to  discuss  in  its  divers  manifestations. 

We  know  the  consequences  of  the  division  of 
labour  full  well.  It  is  evident  that  we  are  divided 
into  two  classes:  on  the  one  hand,  producers, 
who  consume  very  little  and  are  exempt  from 
thinking  because  they  only  do  physical  work, 
and  who  work  badly  because  their  brains  remain 
inactive;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  consumers, 
who,  producing  little  or  hardly  anything,  have  the 
privilege  of  thinking  for  the  others,  and  who 
think  badly  because  the  whole  world  of  those  who 
toil  with  their  hands  is  unknown  to  them.  The 
labourers  of  the  soil  know  nothing  of  machinery; 
those  who  work  at  machinery  ignore  everything 
about  agriculture.     The  ideal  of  modem  industry 


The  Division  of  Labour  235 

is  a  child  tending  a  machine  that  he  cannot  and 
must  not  understand,  and  a  foreman  who  fines  him 
if  his  attention  flags  for  a  moment.  The  ideal 
of  industrial  agriculture  is  to  do  away  with  the 
agricultural  labourer  altogether  and  to  set  a  man 
who  does  odd  jobs  to  tend  a  steam-plough  or  a 
threshing-machine.  The  division  of  labour  means 
labelling  and  stamping  men  for  life  —  some  to 
splice  ropes  in  factories,  some  to  be  foremen  in  a 
business,  others  to  shove  huge  coal-baskets  in  a 
particular  part  of  a  mine ;  but  none  of  them  to  have 
any  idea  of  machinery  as  a  whole,  nor  of  business, 
nor  of  mines.  And  thereby  they  destroy  the  love 
of  work  and  the  capacity  for  invention  that,  at  the 
beginning  of  modem  industry,  created  the  machinery 
on  which  we  pride  ourselves  so  much. 

What  they  have  done  for  individuals,  they  also 
wanted  to  do  for  nations.  Humanity  was  to  be 
divided  into  national  workshops,  having  each  its 
speciality.  Russia,  we  were  taught,  was  destined 
by  nature  to  grow  com;  England  to  spin  cotton; 
Belgium  to  weave  cloth;  while  Switzerland  was 
to  train  nurses  and  governesses.  Moreover,  each 
separate  city  was  to  establish  a  speciality.  Lyons 
was  to  weave  silk,  Auvergne  to  make  lace,  and 
Paris  fancy  articles.  Economists  believed  that 
specialization  opened  an  immense  field  for  production 
and  consumption,  and  that  an  era  of  limitless  wealth 
for  mankind  was  at  hand. 

But  these  great  hopes  vanished  as  fast  as  technical 
knowledge  spread  abroad.  As  long  as  England  stood 
alone  as  a  weaver  of  cotton,  and  as  a  metal-worker 


236  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

on  a  large  scale ;  as  long  as  only  Paris  made  artis- 
tic fancy  articles,  etc.,  all  went  well,  economists 
could  preach  so-called  division  of  labour  without 
being  refuted. 

But  a  new  current  of  thought  induced  all  civil- 
ized nations  to  manufacture  for  themselves.  They 
found  it  advantageous  to  produce  what  they  for- 
merly received  from  other  countries,  or  from  their 
colonies,  which  in  their  turn  aimed  at  emancipating 
themselves  from  the  mother-country.  Scientific 
discoveries  universalized  the  methods  of  production, 
and  henceforth  it  was  useless  to  pay  an  exorbitant 
price  abroad  for  what  could  easily  be  produced  at 
home.  Does  not  then  this  industrial  revolution 
strike  a  crushing  blow  at  the  theory  of  the  division 
of  laboiiT  which  was  supposed  to  be  so  sound  ? 


CHAPTER  XVI 
The   Decentralization  of  Industry 


After  the  Napoleonic  wars  Britain  all  but  suc- 
ceeded in  ruining  the  main  industries  which  had 
sprung  up  in  France  at  the  end  of  the  preceding 
century.  She  became  also  mistress  of  the  seas  and 
had  no  rivals  of  importance.  She  took  in  the 
situation,  and  knew  how  to  turn  its  privileges  and 
advantages  to  account.  She  established  an  indus- 
trial monopoly,  and,  imposing  upon  her  neighbours 
her  prices  for  the  goods  she  alone  could  manufacture, 
accumulated  riches  upon  riches. 

But  as  the  middle-class  Revolution  of  the 
eighteenth  century  abolished  serfdom  and  created 
a  proletariat  in  France,  industry,  hampered  for 
a  time  in  its  flight,  soared  again,  and  from  the 
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  France 
ceased  to  be  a  tributary  of  England  for  manufac- 
tured goods.  To-day  she  too  has  grown  into  a 
nation  with  an  export  trade.  She  sells  far  more 
than  sixty  million  pounds'  worth  of  manufactured 
goods,  and  two-thirds  of  these  goods  are  fabrics. 
The  number  of  Frenchmen  working  for  export 
or  living  by  their  foreign  trade,  is  estimated  at 
three  millions. 

France  is  therefore  no  longer  England's  tributary. 

m 


238  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

In  her  turn  she  has  striven  to  monopolize  certain 
branches  of  foreign  industry,  such  as  silks  and 
ready-made  clothes,  and  has  reaped  immense  profits 
therefrom;  but  she  is  on  the  point  of  losing  this 
monopoly  for  ever,  as  England  is  on  the  point  of 
losing  the  monopoly  of  cotton  goods. 

Travelling  eastwards,  industry  has  reached 
Germany.  Fifty  years  ago  Germany  was  a  tribu- 
tary of  England  and  France  for  most  manufactured 
commodities  in  the  higher  branches  of  industry. 
It  is  no  longer  so.  In  the  course  of  the  last  forty- 
five  years,  and  especially  since  the  Franco-German 
war,  Germany  has  completely  reorganized  her 
industry.  The  new  factories  are  stocked  with  the 
best  machinery;  the  latest  creations  of  industrial  art 
in  cotton  goods  from  Manchester,  or  in  silks  from 
Lyons,  etc.,  are  now  realized  in  recent  German 
factories.  It  took  two  or  three  generations  of 
workers,  at  Lyons  and  Manchester,  to  construct  the 
modem  machinery;  but  Germany  .adopted  it  in 
its  perfected  state.  Technical  schools,  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  industry,  supply  the  factories  with  an 
army  of  intelligent  workmen  —  practical  engineers, 
who  can  work  with  hand  and  brain.  German 
industry  starts  at  the  point  which  was  only  reached 
by  Manchester  and  Lyons  after  fifty  years  of  groping 
in  the  dark,  of  exertion  and  experiments. 

It  follows  that  as  Germany  manufactures  as  well 
at  home,  she  diminishes  her  imports  from  France 
and  England  year  by  year.  She  has  not  only 
become  their  rival  in  manufactured  goods  in  Asia 
and  in  Africa,  but  also  in  London  and  in  Paris. 


The  Decentralization  of  Industry     239 

Shortsighted  people  may  cry  out  against  the 
Frankfort  Treaty,  they  may  explain  German  com- 
petition by  little  differences  in  railway  tariffs; 
they  may  linger  on  the  petty  side  of  questions  and 
neglect  great  historical  facts.  But  it  is  none  the 
less  certain  that  the  main  industries,  formerly  in 
the  hands  of  England  and  France,  have  progressed 
eastward,  and  in  Germany  they  found  a  country, 
young,  full  of  energy,  possessing  an  intelligent 
middle  class,  and  eager  in  its  turn  to  enrich  itself 
by  foreign  trade. 

While  Germany  freed  itself  from  subjection  to 
France  and  England,  manufactured  her  own  cotton- 
cloth,  constructed  her  own  machines  —  in  fact, 
manufactured  all  commodities  —  the  main  indus- 
tries took  also  root  in  Russia,  where  the  development 
of  manufacture  is  the  more  surprising  as  it  sprang 
up  but  yesterday. 

At  the  time  of  the  abolition  of  serfdom  in  1861, 
Russia  hardly  had  any  factories.  Everything  they 
needed  —  machines,  rails,  railway-engines,  rich 
materials  —  came  from  the  West.  Twenty  years 
later  she  possessed  already  85,000  factories,  and 
the  goods  from  these  factories  had  increased  fourfold 
in  value. 

The  old  machinery  was  superseded,  and  now 
nearly  all  the  steel  in  use  in  Russia,  three-quarters 
of  the  iron,  two-thirds  of  the  coal,  all  railway- 
engines,  railway-carriages,  rails,  nearly  all  steamers, 
are  made  in  Russia. 

Russia,  destined  —  so  wrote  economists  —  to 
remain     an     agricultural     territory,     has     rapidly 


240  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

developed  into  a  manufacturing  country.  She 
orders  hardly  anything  from  England,  and  very 
little  from  Germany. 

Economists  hold  the  customs  responsible  for 
these  facts,  and  yet  cottons  manufactured  in 
Russia  are  sold  at  the  same  price  as  in  London. 
Capital  taking  no  cognizance  of  fatherland,  German 
and  English  capitalists,  accompanied  by  engineers 
and  foremen  of  their  own  nationalities,  have  intro- 
duced in  Russia  and  in  Poland  manufactories,  the 
excellence  of  whose  goods  compete  with  the  best 
from  England.  If  customs  were  abolished  to- 
morrow, manufacture  would  only  gain  by  it.  Not 
long  ago  the  British  manufacturers  delivered  another 
hard  blow  to  the  imports  of  cloth  and  woollens  from 
the  West.  They  set  up  in  southern  and  middle 
Russia  immense  wool  factories,  stocked  with  the  most 
perfect  machinery  from  Bradford,  and  already  now 
Russia  hardly  imports  more  than  a  few  pieces  of 
English  cloth  and  French  woollen  fabrics  as  samples. 

The  main  industries  not  only  move  eastward, 
they  are  spreading  to  the  southern  peninsulas. 
The  Turin  Exhibition  of  1884  has  already  shown 
the  progress  made  in  Italian  manufactured  produce ; 
and,  let  us  not  make  any  mistake  about  it,  the 
mutual  hatred  of  the  French  and  Italian  middle 
classes  has  no  other  origin  than  their  industrial 
rivalry.  Spain  is  also  becoming  an  industrial 
country;  while  in  the  East,  Bohemia  has  suddenly 
sprung  up  to  importance  as  a  new  centre  of  manu- 
factures, provided  with  perfected  machinery  and 
applying  the  best  scientific  methods. 


The  Decentralization  of  Industry     241 

We  might  also  mention  Hungary's  rapid  progress 
in  the  main  industries,  but  let  us  rather  take  Brazil 
as  an  example.  Economists  sentenced  Brazil  to 
cultivate  cotton  for  ever,  to  export  it  in  its  raw 
state,  and  to  receive  cotton-cloth  from  Europe  in 
exchange.  In  fact,  forty  years  ago  Brazil  had 
only  nine  wretched  little  cotton  factories  with  385 
spindles.  To-day  there  are  108  cotton-mills,  pos- 
sessing 715,000  spindles  and  26,050  looms,  which 
throw  234  million  yards  of  textiles  on  the  market 
annually. 

Even  Mexico  is  setting  about  manufacturing 
cotton-cloth,  instead  of  importing  it  from  Europe. 
As  to  the  United  States  they  have  quite  freed 
themselves  from  European  tutelage,  and  have 
triumphally  developed  their  manufacturing  powers. 

But  it  was  India  which  gave  the  most  strik- 
ing proof  against  the  specialization  of  national 
industry. 

We  all  know  the  theory:  the  great  European 
nations  need  colonies,  for  colonies  send  raw  material 
—  cotton  fibre,  unwashed  wool,  spices,  etc.,  to  the 
mother-land.  And  the  mother-land,  under  pretence 
of  sending  them  manufactured  wares,  gets  rid  of 
her  burnt  sttiifs,  her  machine  scrap-iron  and  every- 
thing which  she  no  longer  has  use  for.  It  costs 
her  little  or  nothing,  and  none  the  less  the  articles 
are  sold  at  exorbitant  prices. 

Such  was  the  theory  —  such  was  the  practice  for 
a  long  time.  In  London  and  Manchester  fortunes 
were  made  while  India  was  being  ruined.  In  the 
India  Museum  in  London  unheard-of  riches,  collected 


242  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

in  Calcutta  and  Bombay  by  English  merchants,  are 
to  be  seen. 

But  other  English  merchants  and  capitalists 
conceived  the  very  simple  idea  that  it  would  be 
more  expedient  to  exploit  the  natives  of  India  by 
making  cotton-cloth  in  India  itself,  than  to  import 
from  twenty  to  twenty-four  million  pounds'  worth 
of  goods  annually. 

At  first  a  series  of  experiments  ended  in  failure, 
Indian  weavers  —  artists  and  experts  in  their  own 
craft  —  could  not  inure  themselves  to  factory  life ; 
the  machinery  sent  from  Liverpool  was  bad ;  the 
climate  had  to  be  taken  into  account;  and  mer- 
chants had  to  adapt  themselves  to  new  conditions, 
now  fully  observed,  before  British  India  could 
become  the  menacing  rival  of  the  Mother-land  she 
is  to-day. 

She  now  possesses  200  cotton  factories  which 
employ  about  196,400  workmen,  and  contain 
5,231,000  spindles  and  48,400  looms,  and  38  jute- 
mills,  with  409,000  spindles.  She  exports  annually 
to  China,  to  the  Dutch  Indies,  and  to  Africa,  nearly 
eight  million  pounds'  worth  of  the  same  white 
cotton-cloth,  said  to  be  England's  speciality.  And 
while  English  workmen  are  unemployed  and  in  great 
want,  Indian  women  weave  cotton  by  machinery 
for  the  Far  East  at  the  rate  of  sixpence  a  day.  In 
short,  intelligent  manufacturers  are  fully  aware 
that  the  day  is  not  far  off  when  they  will  not  know 
what  to  do  with  the  "factory  hands"  who  formerly 
weaved  cotton-cloth  exported  from  England.  Be- 
sides which  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  evident 


The  Decentralization  of  Industry    243 

that  India  will  not  import  a  single  ton  of  iron 
from  England,  The  initial  difficulties  in  using  the 
coal  and  the  iron  ore  obtained  in  India  have  been 
overcome;  and  foundries,  rivalling  those  in  Eng- 
la;nd,  have  been  built  on  the  shores  of  the  Indian 
Ocean. 

Colonies  competing  with  the  mother-land  in 
its  production  of  manufactured  goods,  such  is 
the  factor  which  wiH  regulate  economy  in  the 
twentieth  century. 

And  why  should  India  not  manufacture? 
What  should  be  the  hindrance  ?  Capital  ?  —  But 
capital  goes  wherever  there  are  men,  poor  enough 
to  be  exploited.  Knowledge?  —  But  knowledge 
recognizes  no  national  barriers.  Technical  skill 
of  the  worker?  —  No.  Are,  then,  Hindoo  work- 
men inferior  to  the  237,000  boys  and  girls,  not 
eighteen  years  old,  at  present  working  in  the 
English  textile  factories? 

II 

After  having  glanced  at  national  industries  it 
would  be  very  interesting  to  turn  to  special  in- 
dustries. 

Let  us  take  silk,  for  example,  an  eminently 
French  product  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  We  all  know  how  Lyons  became  the 
emporium  of  the  silk  trade.  At  first  raw  silk  was 
gathered  in  southern  France,  till  little  by  little 
they  ordered  it  from  Italy,  from  Spain,  from 
Austria,  from  the  Caucasus,  and  from  Japan,  for 


244  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

the  manufacture  of  their  silk  fabrics.  In  1875,  out 
of  five  miUion  kilos  of  raw  silk  converted  into  stiiffs 
in  the  vicinity  of  Lyons,  there  were  only  four 
hundred  thousand  kilos  of  French  silk.  But  if 
Lyons  manufactured  imported  silk,  why  should  not 
Switzerland,  Germany,  Russia,  do  as  much?  Silk 
weaving  developed  indeed  in  the  villages  round 
Zurich.  Ba,le  became  a  great  centre  of  the  silk 
trade.  The  Caucasian  Administration  engaged 
women  from  Marseilles  and  workmen  from  Lyons 
to  teach  Georgians  the  perfected  rearing  of  silk- 
worms, and  the  art  of  converting  silk  into  fabrics 
to  the  Caucasian  peasants.  Austria  followed. 
Then  Germany,  with  the  help  of  Lyons  workmen, 
built  great  silk  factories.  The  United  States  did 
likewise  in  Paterson. 

And  to-day  the  silk  trade  is  no  longer  a  French 
monopoly.  Silks  are  made  in  Germany,  in  Austria, 
in  the  United  States,  and  in  England.  In  winter, 
Caucasian  peasants  weave  silk  handkerchiefs  at 
a  wage  that  would  mean  starvation  to  the  silk- 
weavers  of  Lyons.  Italy  sends  silks  to  France; 
and  Lyons,  which  in  1870-4  exported  460  million 
francs'  worth  of  silk  fabrics,  exports  now  only 
one-half  of  that  amount.  In  fact,  the  time  is  not 
far  off  when  Lyons  will  only  send  higher  class 
goods  and  a  few  novelties  as  patterns  to  Germany, 
Russia,  and  Japan. 

And  so  it  is  in  all  industries.  Belgium  has  no 
longer  the  cloth  monopoly;  cloth  is  made  in  Ger- 
many, in  Russia,  in  Austria,  in  the  United  States. 
Switzerland  and  the  French  Jura  have  no  longer 


The  Decentralization  of  Industry    245 

a  clockwork  monopoly:  watches  are  made  every- 
where. Scotland  no  longer  refines  sugar  for 
Russia:  Russian  sugar  is  imported  into  England. 
Italy,  although  neither  possessing  coal  nor  iron, 
makes  its  own  ironclads  and  engines  for  her 
steamers.  Chemical  industry  is  no  longer  an 
EngHsh  monopoly;  sulphuric  acid  and  soda  are 
made  even  in  the  Urals.  Steam-engines,  made 
at  Winterthur,  have  acquired  everywhere  a  wide 
reputation,  and  at  the  present  moment,  Switzer- 
land, that  has  neither  coal  nor  iron  —  nothing  but 
excellent  'technical  schools  —  makes  machinery 
better  and  cheaper  than  England.  So  ends  the 
theory  of  Exchange, 

The  tendency  of  trade,  as  for  all  else,  is  toward 
decentralization. 

Every  nation  finds  it  advantageous  to  combine 
agriculture  with  the  greatest  possible  variety  of 
foundries  and  manufactories.  The  specialization, 
of  which  economists  spoke  so  highly,  enriched  a 
number  of  capitalists  but  is  now  of  no  use.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  every  region, 
every  nation,  to  grow  their  own  wheat,  their  own 
vegetables,  and  to  manufacture  all  produce  they 
consume  at  home.  This  diversity  is  the  surest 
pledge  of  the  complete  development  of  production 
by  mutual  co-operation,  and  the  moving  cause  of 
progress,  while  specialization  is  a  hindrance  to 
progress. 

Agriculture  can  only  prosper  in  proximity  to 
factories.  And  no  sooner  does  a  single  factory 
appear  than  an  infinite  variety  of  other  factories 


246  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

must  spring  up  around,  so  that,  mutually  sup- 
porting and  stimulating  one  another  by  their 
inventions,  they  increase  their  productivity. 


Ill 

It  is  foolish  indeed  to  export  wheat  and  import 
flour,  to  export  wool  and  import  cloth,  to  export 
iron  and  import  machinery;  not  only  because 
transportation  is  a  waste  of  time  and  money,  but, 
above  all,  because  a  country  with  no  developed 
industry  inevitably  remains  behind  the  times  in 
agriculture;  because  a  country  with  no  large  fac- 
tories to  bring  steel  to  a  finished  condition  is  also 
backward  in  all  other  industries ;  and  lastly,  because 
the  industrial  and  technical  capacities  of  the  nation 
remain  undeveloped. 

In  the  world  of  production  everything  holds 
together  nowadays.  Cultivation  of  the  soil  is  no 
longer  possible  without  machinery,  without  great 
irrigation  works,  without  railways,  without  manure 
factories.  And  to  adapt  this  machinery,  these 
railways,  these  irrigation  engines,  etc.,  to  local 
conditions,  a  certain  spirit  of  invention,  a  certain 
amount  of  technical  skill,  that  lie  dormant  as  long  as 
spades  and  ploughshares  are  the  only  implements 
of  cultivation,  must  be  developed. 

If  fields  are  to  be  properly  cultivated,  and  are 
to  yield  the  abundant  harvests  man  has  the  right 
to  expect,  it  is  essential  that  workshops,  foundries, 
and  factories  develop  within  the  reach  of  the  fields. 
A  variety  of  occupations,  a  variety  of  skill  arising 


The  Decentralization  of  Industry     247 

therefrom  and  working  together  for  a  common  aim 
—  these  are  the  genuine  forces  of  progress. 

And  now  let  us  imagine  the  inhabitants  of  a  city 
or  a  territory  —  whether  vast  or  small  —  stepping 
for  the  first  time  on  to  the  path  of  the  Social 
Revolution. 

We  are  sometimes  told  that  "  nothing  will  have 
changed"  :  that  the  mines,  the  factories,  etc.,  will 
be  expropriated,  and  proclaimed  national  or  com- 
munal property,  that  every  man  will  go  back  to  his 
usual  work,  and  that  the  Revolution  will  then  be 
accomplished. 

But  this  is  a  dream  :  the  Social  Revolution 
cannot  take  place  so  simply. 

We  have  already  mentioned  that  should  the 
Revolution  break  out  to-morrow  in  Paris,  Lyons, 
or  any  other  city  —  should  the  workers  lay  hands 
on  factories,  houses,  and  banks,  present  production 
would  be  completely  revolutionized  by  this  simple 
fact. 

International  commerce  will  come  to  a  standstill ; 
so  also  will  the  importation  of  foreign  bread-stuffs ; 
the  circulation  of  commodities  and  of  provisions 
will  be  paralyzed,  And  then,  the  city  or  territory 
in  revolt  will  be  compelled  to  provide  for  itself, 
and  to  reorganize  production.  If  it  fails  to  do  so, 
it  is  death.  If  it  succeeds,  it  will  revolutionize  the . 
economic  life  of  the  country. 

The  quantity  of  imported  provisions  having 
decreased,  consumption  having  increased,  one 
million  Parisians  working  for  exportation  purposes 
having  been  thrown  out  of  work,  a  great  number 


248  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  things  imported  to-day  from  distant  or  neigh- 
bouring countries  not  reaching  their  destination, 
fancy-trade  being  temporarily  at  a  standstill. 
"What  will  the  inhabitants  have  to  eat  six  months 
after  the  Revolution? 

We  think  that  when  the  stores  are  empty,  the 
masses  will  seek  to  obtain  their  food  from  the  land. 
They  will  be  compelled  to  cultivate  the  soil,  to 
combine  agricultural  production  with  industrial 
production  in  Paris  and  its  environs.  They  will 
have  to  abandon  the  merely  ornamental  trades  and 
consider  the  most  urgent  need  —  bread. 

Citizens  will  be  obliged  to  become  agriculturists. 
Not  in  the  same  manner  as  peasants  who .  wear 
themselves  out,  ploughing  for  a  wage  that  barely 
provides  them  with  sufficient  food  for  the  year,  but 
by  following  the  principles  of  market-gardeners' 
intensive  agriculture,  applied  on  a  large  scale  by 
means  of  the  best  machinery  that  man  has  invented 
or  can  invent.  They  will  till  the  land  —  not,  how- 
ever, like  the  country  beast  of  burden:  a  Paris 
jeweller  would  object  to  that.  They  will  reorganize 
cultivation;  not  in  ten  years'  time,  but  at  once, 
during  the  revolutionary  struggles,  from  fear  of  being 
worsted  by  the  enemy. 

Agriculture  will  have  to  be  carried  on  by  intelli- 
gent beings,  availing  themselves  of  their  knowledge, 
organizing  themselves  in  joyous  gangs  for  pleasant 
work,  like  the  men  who,  a  hundred  years  ago, 
worked  in  the  Champ  de  Mars  for  the  Feast  of  the 
Federation  —  a  work  of  delight,  when  not  carried 
to  excess,  when  scientiiicaUy  organized,  when  man 


The  Decentralization  of  Industry     249 

invents  and  improves  his  tools  and  is  conscious  of 
being  a  useful  member  of  the  commimity. 

Of  course,  they  will  not  only  cultivate,  they  will 
also  produce  those  things  which  they  formerly  used 
to  order  from  foreign  parts.  And  let  us  not  forget 
that  for  the  inhabitants  of  a  revolted  territory, 
"foreign  parts"  may  include  all  districts  that  have 
not  joined  in  the  revolutionary  movement.  During 
the  Revolutions  of  1793  and  187 1  Paris  was  made 
to  feel  that  "foreign  parts"  meant  even  the  country 
district  at  her  very  gates.  The  speculator  in  grains 
at  Troyes  starved  the  sansculottes  of  Paris  more 
effectiially  than  the  German  armies  brought  on 
French  soil  by  the  Versailles  conspirators.  The 
revolted  city  will  be  compelled  to  do  without 
"foreigners,"  and  why  not?  France  invented  beet- 
root sugar  when  sugar-cane  ran  short  during  the 
continental  blockade.  Parisians  discovered  salt- 
petre in  their  cellars  when  they  no  longer  received 
any  from  abroad.  Shall  we  be  inferior  to  our 
grandfathers,  who  with  difficulty  lisped  the  first 
words  of  science.'' 

A  revolution  is  more  than  the  destruction  of  a 
political  system.  It  implies  the  awakening  of 
human  intelligence,  the  increasing  of  the  inventive 
spirit  tenfold,  a  hundredfold ;  it  is  the  dawn  of  a  new 
science  —  the  science  of  men  like  Laplace,  Lamarck, 
Lavoisier.  It  is  a  revolution  in  the  minds  of  men, 
more  than  in  their  institutions. 

And  economists  tell  us  to  return  to  our  workshops, 
as  if  passing  through  a  revolution  were  going  home 
after  a  walk  in  the  Epping  forest! 


25©  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

To  begin  with,  the  sole  fact  of  having  laid  hands 
on  middle-class  property  implies  the  necessity  of 
completely  reorganizing  the  whole  of  economic  life 
in  workshops,  in  dockyards,  and  in  factories. 

And  the  revolution  will  not  fail  to  act  in  this 
direction.  Should  Paris,  during  the  social  revo- 
lution, be  cut  off  from  the  world  for  a  year  or  two  by 
the  supporters  of  middle-class  rule,  its  millions  of 
intellects,  not  yet  depressed  by  factory  life  —  that 
City  of  little  trades  which  stimulate  the  spirit  of 
invention  —  will  show  the  world  what  man's  brain 
can  accomplish  without  asking  any  help  from 
without,  but  the  motor  force  of  the  sun  that  gives 
light,  the  power  of  the  wind  that  sweeps  away 
impurities,  and  the  silent  life-forces  at  work  in  the 
earth  we  tread  on. 

We  shall  see  then  what  a  variety  of  trades, 
mutually  co-operating  on  a  spot  of  the  globe  and 
animated  by  the  social  revolution,  can  do  to  feed, 
clothe,  house,  and  supply  with  all  manner  of 
luxuries  millions  of  intelligent  men. 

We  need  write  no  fiction  to  prove  this.  What 
we  are  sure  of,  what  has  already  been  experimented 
upon,  and  recognized  as  practical,  would  suffice  to 
carry  it  into  effect,  if  the  attempt  were  fertilized, 
vivified  by  the  daring  inspiration  of  the  Revolution 
and  the  spontaneous  impulse  of  the  masses. 


CHAPTER   XVII 
Agriculture 


Political  Economy  has  often  been  reproached 
with  drawing  all  its  deductions  from  the  decidedly 
false  principle,  that  the  only  incentive  capable  of 
forcing  a  man  to  augment  his  power  of  production  is 
personal  interest  in  its  narrowest  sense. 

The  reproach  is  perfectly  true ;  so  true  that  epochs 
of  great  industrial  discoveries  and  true  progress  in 
industry  are  precisely  those  in  which  the  happiness 
of  all  was  the  aim  pursued,  and  in  which  personal 
enrichment  was  least  thought  of.  Great  investi- 
gators and  great  inventors  aimed,  without  doubt, 
at  the  emancipation  of  mankind.  And  if  Watt, 
Stephenson,  Jacquard,  etc.,  could  have  only  foreseen 
what  a  state  of  misery  their  sleepless  nights  would 
bring  to  the  workers,  they  would  probably  have 
burned  their  designs  and  broken  their  models. 

Another  principle  that  pervades  Political  Econ- 
omy is  just  as  false.  It  is  the  tacit  admission, 
common  to  all  economists,  that  if  there  is  often 
over-production  in  certain  branches,  a  society  will 
nevertheless  never  have  sufficient  products  to  satisfy 
the  wants  of  all,  and  that  consequently  the  day  will 
never  come  when  nobody  will  be  forced  to  sell  his 
labour  in  exchange  for  wages.    This  tacit  admission 

2S« 


252  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

is  found  at  the  basis  of  all  theories  and  the  so-called 
"laws"  taught  by  economists. 

And  yet  it  is  certain  that  the  day  when  any 
civilized  association  of^individuals  would  ask  itself, 
what  are  the  needs  of  all,  and  the  means  of  satisfying 
them,  it  would  see  that,  in  industry  as  in  agriculture, 
it  already  possesses  sufficient  to  provide  abundantly 
for  all  needs,  on  condition  that  it  knows  how  to  apply 
these  means  to  satisfy  real  needs. 

That  this  is  true  as  regards  industry  no  one  can 
contest.  Indeed,  it  suffices  to  study  the  processes 
already  in  use  to  extract  coals  and  ore,  to  obtain 
steel  and  work  it,  to  manufacture  what  is  used  for 
clothing,  etc.,  in  large  industrial  establishments, 
in  order  to  perceive  that  we  could  already  increase 
our  production  fourfold  and  yet  economize  work. 

We  go  further.  We  assert  that  agriculture  is 
in  the  same  position:  the  labourer,  like  the  manu- 
facturer, already  possesses  the  means  to  increase 
his  production,  not  only  fourfold  but  tenfold,  and 
he  will  be  able  to  put  it  into  practice  as  soon  as  he 
feels  the  need  of  it,  as  soon  as  the  socialist  organi- 
zation of  work  will  be  established  instead  of  the 
present  capitalistic  one. 

Each  time  agriculture  is  spoken  of,  men  imagine 
a  peasant  bending  over  the  plough,  throwing  badly 
sorted  com  haphazard  into  the  ground  and  wait- 
ing anxiously  for  what  the  good  or  bad  season  will 
bring  forth ;  or  a  family  working  from  mom  to  night 
and  reaping  as  reward  a  rude  bed,  dry  bread,  and 
coarse  beverage.  In  a  word,  they  picture  "  the  wild 
beast"  of  La  Bruybre. 


Agriculture  253 

And  for  this  man,  thus  subjected  to  misery,  the 
utmost  reUef  society  proposes  is  to  reduce  his 
taxes  or  his  rent.  But  they  do  not  even  dare  to 
imagine  a  cultivator  standing  erect,  taking  leisure, 
and  producing  by  a  few  hours'  work  per  day  suffi- 
cient food  to  noiirish,  not  only  his  own  family,  but 
a  hundred  men  more  at  the  least.  In  their  most 
glowing  dreams  of  the  future  Socialists  do  not  go 
beyond  American  extensive  culture,  which,  after 
all,  is  but  the  infancy  of  agricultural  art. 

The  agriculturist  has  broader  ideas  to-day  —  his 
conceptions  are  on  a  far  grander  scale.  He  only 
asks  for  a  fraction  of  an  acre  in  order  to  produce 
sufficient  vegetables  for  a  family ;  and  to  feed  twenty- 
five  homed  beasts  he  needs  no  more  space  than  he 
formerly  required  to  feed  one;  his  aim  is  to  make 
his  own  soil,  to  defy  seasons  and  climate,  to  warm 
both  air  and  earth  around  the  young  plant;  to 
produce,  in  a  word,  on  one  acre  what  he  used  to 
crop  on  fifty  acres,  and  that  without  any  excessive 
fatigue  —  by  greatly  reducing,  on  the  contrary, 
the  total  of  former  labour.  He  knows  that  we  will 
be  able  to  feed  everybody  by  giving  to  the  culture 
of  the  fields  no  more  time  than  what  each  can  give 
with  pleasure  and  joy. 

This  is  the  present  tendency  of  agriculture. 

While  scientific  men,  led  by  Liebig,  the  creator 
of  the  chemical  theory  of  agriculture,  often  got 
on  the  wrong  tack  in  their  love  of  mere  theories, 
vmlettered  agriculturists  opened  up  new  roads  to 
prosperity.  Market-gardeners  of  Paris,  Troyes, 
Rouen,    Scotch    and    EngUsh   gardeners,    Flemish 


254  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

farmers,  peasants  of  Jersey,  Guernsey,  and  farmers 
on  the  Scilly  Isles  have  opened  up  such  large  hori- 
zons that  the  mind  hesitates  to  grasp  them.  While 
up  till  lately  a  family  of  peasants  needed  at  least 
seventeen  to  twenty  acres  to  live  on  the  produce 
of  the  soil  —  and  we  know  how  peasants  live  —  we 
can  no  longer  say  what  is  the  minimum  area  on 
which  all  that  is  necessary  to  a  family  can  be  grown, 
even  including  articles  of  luxury,  if  the  soil  is  worked 
by  means  of  intensive  culture. 

Ten  years  ago  it  could  already  be  asserted  that 
a  population  of  thirty  million  individuals  could 
live  very  well,  without  importing  anything,  on 
what  could  be  grown  in  Great  Britain.  But  now, 
when  we  see  the  progress  recently  made  in  France 
as  well  as  in  England,  and  when  we  contemplate 
the  new  horizons  which  open  before  us,  we  can  say 
that  in  cultivating  the  earth  as  it  is  already  culti- 
vated in  many  places,  even  on  poor  soils,  fifty  or 
sixty  million  inhabitants  to  the  territory  of  Great 
Britain  would  still  be  a  very  feeble  proportion  to 
what  man  could  exact  from  the  soil. 

In  any  case  (as  we  are  about  to  demonstrate) 
we  may  consider  it  as  absolutely  proved  that  if 
to-morrow  Paris  and  the  two  departments  of  Seine 
and  of  Seine-et-Oise  organized  themselves  as  an 
Anarchist  commune,  in  which  all  worked  with  their 
hands,  and  if  the  entire  universe  refused  to  send 
them  a  single  bushel  of  wheat,  a  single  head 
of  cattle,  a  single  basket  of  fruit,  and  left  them 
only  the  territory  of  the  two  departments,  they 
could  not  only  produce  com,  meat,  and  vegetables 


Agriculture  255 

necessary  for  themselves,  but  also  articles  of  luxury 
in  sufficient  quantities  for  all. 

And,  in  addition,  we  affirm  that  the  sum  total 
of  this  labour  would  be  far  less  than  that  expended 
at  present  to  feed  these  people  with  com  harvested 
in  Auvergne  and  Russia,  with  vegetables  pro- 
duced a  little  everywhere  by  extensive  agriculture, 
and  with  fruit  grown  in  the  South. 

It  is  self-evident  that  we  in  nowise  desire  "all" 
exchange  to  be  suppressed,  nor  that  each  region 
should  strive  to  produce  that  which  will  only  grow 
in  its  climate  by  a  more  or  less  artificial  culture. 
But  we  care  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
theory  of  exchange,  such  as  is  understood  to-day, 
is  strangely  exaggerated  —  that  exchange  is  often 
useless  and  even  harmful.  We  assert,  moreover, 
that  people  have  never  had  a  right  conception  of 
the  immense  labour  of  Southern  wine  growers,  nor 
of  that  of  Russian  and  Hungarian  corn  growers, 
whose  excessive  labour  could  also  be  very  much 
reduced  if  they  adopted  intensive  culture,  instead 
of  their  present  system  of  extensive  agriculture. 

II 

It  would  be  impossible  to  quote  here  the  mass 
of  facts  on  which  we  base  our  assertions.  We  are 
therefore  obliged  to  refer  our  readers  who  want 
further  information  to  another  book,  "  Fields,  Fac- 
tories, and  Workshops."  Above  all  we  earnestly 
invite  those  who  are  interested  in  the. question  to 
read  several  excellent  works  published  in  France 


256  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

and  elsewhere,  and  of  which  we  give  a  Hst  at  the 
close  of  this  book  (i).  As  to  the  inhabitants  of 
large  towns,  who  have  as  yet  no  real  notion  of 
what  agriculture  can  be,  we  advise  them  to  explore 
the  surrounding  market-gardens  and  study  the 
cultivation.  They  need  but  observe  and  question 
market -gardeners,  and  a  new  world  will  be  open  to 
them.  They  will  thus  be  able  to  see  what  European 
,  agriculture  may  be  in  the  twentieth  century ;  and 
they  will  understand  with  what  force  the  social 
revolution  will  be  armed  when  we  know  the  secret 
of  taking  everything  we  need  from  the  soil. 

A  few  facts  will  suffice  to  show  that  our  asser- 
tions are  in  no  way  exaggerated.  We  only  wish 
them  to  be  preceded  by  a  few  general  remarks. 

We  know  in  what  a  wretched  condition  Euro- 
pean agriculture  is.  If  the  cultivator  of  the  soil 
is  not  plundered  by  the  landowner,  he  is  robbed  by 
the  State.  If  the  State  taxes  him  .moderately,  the 
money-lender  enslaves  him  by  means  of  promissory 
notes,  and  soon  turns  him  into  the  simple  tenant 
of  a  soil  belonging  in  reality  to  a  financial  company. 
The  landlord,  the  State,  and  the  banker  thus  plunder 
the  cultivator  by  means  of  rent,  taxes,  and  interest. 
The  sum  varies  in  each  country,  but  it  never  falls 
below  the  quarter,  very  often  the  half  of  the  raw 
produce.  In  Prance  agriculturists  paid  the  State 
quite  recently  as  much  as  44  per  cent  of  the  gross 
produce. 

Moreover,  the  share  of  the  owner  and  the  State 
always  goes  on  increasing.  As  soon  as  the  culti- 
vator has  obtained  more  plentiful  crops  by  prodigies 


Agriculture  257 

of  labour,  invention,  or  initiative,  the  tribute  he  will 
owe  to  the  landowner,  the  State,  and  the  banker  will 
augment  in  proportion.  If  he  doubles  the  number 
of  bushels  reaped  per  acre,  rent  will  be  doubled  and 
taxes  too,  and  the  State  will  take  care  to  raise  them 
still  more  if  the  prices  go  up.  And  so  on.  In  short, 
everywhere  the  cultivator  of  the  soil  works  twelve 
to  sixteen  hours  a  day;  these  three  vultures  take 
from  him  everything  he  rhight  lay  by ;  they  rob  him 
everywhere  of  what  would  enable  him  to  improve 
his  culture.  This  is  why  agriculture  progresses  so 
slowly. 

The  cultivator  can  only  occasionally  make  some 
progress,  in  some  exceptional  regions,  under  quite 
exceptional  circumstances,  following  upon  a  quarrel 
between  the  three  vampires.  And  yet  we  have  said 
nothing  about  the  tribute  every  cultivator  pays  to 
the  manufacturer.  Every  machine,  every  spade, 
every  barrel  of  chemical  manure,  is  sold  to  him  at 
three  or  four  times  its  real  cost.  Nor  let  us  forget 
the  middleman,  who  levies  the  lion's  share  of  the 
earth's  produce. 

This  is  why,  during  all  this  century  of  invention 
and  progress,  agriculture  has  only  improved  from 
time  to  time  on  very  limited  areas. 

Happily  there  have  always  been  small  oases, 
neglected  for  some  time  by  the  vultures;  and  here 
we  learn  what  intensive  agriculture  can  produce  for 
mankind.     Let  us  mention  a  few  examples. 

In  the  American  prairies  (which,  however,  only 
yield  meagre  spring  wheat  crops,  from  7  to  15 
bushels  an  acre,  and  even  these  are  often  marred  by 


258  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

periodical  droughts),  500  men,  working  only  during 
eight  months,  produce  the  annual  food  of  50,000 
people.  With  all  the  improvements  of  the  last 
few  years,  one  man's  yearly  labour  (300  days) 
yields,  delivered  in  Chicago  as  flour,  the  yearly 
food  of  250  men.  Here  the  result  is  obtained  by 
a  great  economy  in  manual  labour:  on  those  vast 
plains,  which  the  eye  cannot  encompass,  ploughing, 
harvesting,  thrashing,  are  organized  in  almost  mili- 
tary fashion.  There  is  no  useless  running  to  and 
fro,  no  loss  of  time  —  all  is  done  with  parade-like 
precision. 

This  is  agriculture  on  a  large  scale  —  extensive 
agriculture,  which  takes  the  soil  from  nature  with- 
out seeking  to  improve  it.  When  the  earth  has 
yielded  all  it  can,  they  leave  it ;  they  seek  elsewhere 
for  a  virgin  soil,  to  be  exhausted  in  its  turn.  But 
there  is  also  "intensive"  agriculture,  which  is 
already  worked,  and  will  be  more  and  more  so,  by 
machinery.  Its  object  is  to  cultivate  a  limited 
space  well,  to  manure,  to  improve,  to  concentrate 
work,  and  to  obtain  the  largest  crop  possible.  This 
kind  of  culture  spreads  every  year,  and  whereas 
agriculturists  in  the  south  of  France  and  on  the 
fertile  plains  of  Western  America  are  content  with 
an  average  crop  of  11  to  15  bushels  per  acre  by 
extensive  culture,  they  reap  regularly  39,  even  55, 
and  sometimes  60  bushels  per  acre  in  the  north  of 
France.  The  annual  consumption  of  a  man  is  thus 
obtained  from  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  acre. 

And  the  more  intense  the  culture  is,  the  less 
work   is   expended   to  obtain   a  bushel  of  wheat. 


Agriculture  259 

Machinery  replaces  man  at  the  preHminary  work 
and  for  the  improvements  needed  by  the  land  — • 
such  as  draining,  clearing  of  stones  —  which  will 
double  the  crops  in  future,  once  and  for  ever.  Some- 
times nothing  but  keeping  the  soil  free  of  weeds, 
without  manuring,  allows  an  average  soil  to  yield 
excellent  crops  from  year  to  year.  It  has  been  done 
for  twenty  years  in  succession  at  Rothamstead,  in 
Hertfordshire. 

Let  us  not  write  an  agricultural  romance,  but  be 
satisfied  with  a  crop  of  44  bushels  per  acre.  That 
needs  no  exceptional  soil,  but  merely  a  rational 
culture ;  and  let  us  see  what  it  means. 

The  3,600,000  individuals  who  inhabit  the  two 
departments  of  Seine  and  Seine-et-Oise  consume 
yearly  for  their  food  a  little  less  than  22  million 
bushels  of  cereals,  chiefly  wheat ;  and  in  our  hypo- 
thesis they  would  have  to  cultivate,  in  order  to 
obtain  this  crop,  494,200  acres  out  of  the  1,507,300 
acres  which  they  possess.  It  is  evident  they  would 
not  cultivate  them  with  spades.  That  would  need 
too  much  time  —  96  work-days  of  5  hours  per 
acre.  It  would  be  preferable  to  improve  the  soil 
once  for  all  —  to  drain  what  needed  to  be  drained, 
to  level  what  needed  levelling,  to  clear  the  soil  of 
stones,  were  it  even  necessary  to  spend  5  million 
days  of  5  hours  in  this  preparatory  work  —  an 
average  of  10  work-days  to  each  acre. 

Then  they  would  plough  with  the  steam-digger, 
which  would  take  one  and  three-fifths  of  a  day 
per  acre,  and  they  would  give  another  one  and 
three-fifths  of  a  day  for  working  with  the  double 


26o  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

plough.  Seeds  would  be  sorted  by  steam  instead 
of  taken  haphazard,  and  they  would  be  carefully 
sown  in  rows  instead  of  being  thrown  to  the  four 
winds.  Now  all  this  work  would  not  take  lo  days 
of  5  hours  per  acre  if  the  work  were  done  under 
good  conditions.  But  if  lo  million  work-days  are 
given  to  good  culture  during  3  or  4  years,  the  result 
will  be  later  on  crops  of  44  to  55  bushels  per  acre 
by  only  working  half  the  time. 

Fifteen  million  work-days  will  have  thus  been 
spent  to  give  bread  to  a  population  of  3,600,000 
inhabitants.  And  the  work  would  be  such  that 
each  could  do  it  without  having  muscles  of  steel, 
or  without  having  even  worked  the  ground  before. 
The  initiative  and  the  general  distribution  of  work 
would  come  from  those  who  know  the  soil.  As  to 
the  work  itself,  there  is  no  townsman  of  either  sex  so 
enfeebled  as  to  be  incapable  of  looking  after  machines 
and  of  contributing  his  share  to  agrarian  work  after 
a  few  hours'  apprenticeship. 

Well,  when  we  consider  that  in  the  present  chaos 
there  are,  in  a  city  like  Paris,  without  counting  the 
unemployed  of  the  upper  classes,  about  100,000 
men  out  of  work  in  their  several  trades,  we  see  that 
the  power  lost  in  our  present  organization  would 
alone  suffice  to  give,  with  a  rational  culture,  bread 
necessary  to  the  three  or  four  million  inhabitants 
of  the  two  departments. 

We  repeat,  this  is  no  fancy  dream,  and  we  have 
not  spoken  of  the  truly  intensive  agriculture. 
We  have  not  depended  upon  the  wheat  (obtained 
in  three  years  by  Mr,  Hallett)  of  which  one  grain, 


Agriculture  261 

replanted,  produced  5000  or  6000,  and  occasion- 
ally 10,000  grains,  which  would  give  the  wheat 
necessary  for  a  family  of  five  individuals  on  an 
area  of  120  square  yards.  On  the  contrary,  we 
have  only  mentioned  what  has  been  already 
achieved  by  numerous  farmers  in  France,  England, 
Belgium,  etc.,  and  what  might  be  done  to-morrow 
with  the  experience  and  knowledge  acquired  already 
by  practice  on  a  large  scale. 

But  without  a  revolution,  neither  to-morrow,  nor 
after  to-morrow  will  see  it  done,  because  it  is  not 
to  the  interest  of  landowners  and  capitalists;  and 
because  peasants  who  would  find  their  profit  in  it 
have  neither  the  knowledge  nor  the  money,  nor  the 
time  to  obtain  what  is  necessary  to  go  ahead. 

The  present  society  has  not  yet  reached  this  stage. 
But  let  Parisians  proclaim  an  Anarchist  Commune, 
and  they  will  of  necessity  come  to  it,  because  they 
will  not  be  foolish  enough  to  continue  making  luxu- 
rious toys  (which  Vienna,  Warsaw,  and  Berlin  make 
as  well  already)  and  to  run  the  risk  of  being  left 
without  bread. 

Moreover,  agricultural  work,  by  the  help  of 
machinery,  would  soon  become  the  most  attractive 
and  the  most  joyful  of  all  occupations. 

"We  have  had  enough  jewellery  and  enough, 
dolls'  clothes,"  they  would  say;  "it  is  high  time 
for  the  workers  to  recruit  their  strength  in  agricul- 
ture, to  go  in  search  of  vigour,  of  impressions  of 
nature,  of  the  joy  of  life,  that  they  have  forgotten 
in  the  dark  factories  of  the  suburbs." 

In  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  Alpine  pasture  lands. 


262  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

rather  than  guns,  which  allowed  the  Swiss  to  shake 
off  lords  and  kings.  Modem  agriculture  will  allow 
a  city  in  revolt  to  free  itself  from  the  combined 
bourgeois  forces. 

Ill 

We  have  seen  how  the  3^  million  inhabitants 
of  the  two  departments  round  Paris  could  find 
ample  bread  by  cultivating  only  a  third  of  their 
territory.     Let  us  now  pass  on  to  cattle. 

Englishmen,  who  eat  much  meat,  consume  on 
an  average  a  little  less  than  220  lb.  a  year  per 
adult.  Supposing  all  meats  consumed  were  oxen, 
that  makes  a  little  less  than  the  third  of  an  ox. 
An  ox  a  year  for  5  individuals  (including  children) 
is  already  a  sufficient  ration.  For  3^  million 
inhabitants  this  would  make  an  annual  consumption 
of  700,000  head  of  cattle. 

To-day,  with  the  pasture  system,  we  need  at 
least  5  million  acres  to  nourish  660,000  head  of 
cattle.  This  makes  9  acres  per  each  head  of  homed 
cattle.  Nevertheless,  with  prairies  moderately 
watered  by  spring  water  (as  recently  done  on 
thousands  of  acres  in  the  south-west  of  France), 
I J  million  acres  already  suffice.  But  if  intensive 
culture  is  practised,  and  beetroot  is  grown  for 
fodder,  you  only  need  a  quarter  of  that  area,  that 
is  to  say,  about  310,000  acres.  And  if  we  have 
recourse  to  maize  and  practise  ensilage  (the  com- 
pression of  fodder  while  green)  like  Arabs,  we  obtain 
fodder  on  an  area  of  217,500  acres. 

In  the  environs  of  Milan,  where  sewer  water  is 


Agriculture  263 

used  to  irrigate  the  fields,  fodder  for  2  to  3  homed 
cattle  per  each  acre  is  obtained  on  an  area  of  22,000 
acres ;  and  on  a  few  favoured  fields,  up  to  177  tons  of 
hay  to  the  10  acres  have  been  cropped,  the  yearly- 
provender  of  36  milch  cows.  Nearly  nine  acres 
per  head  of  cattle  are  needed  under  the  pasture 
system,  and  only  2^  acres  for  9  oxen  or  cows  under 
the  new  system.  These  are  the  opposite  extremes 
in  modem  agriculture. 

In  Guernsey,  on  a  total  of  9884  acres  utilized, 
nearly  half  (4695  acres)  are  covered  with  cereals 
and  kitchen-gardens;  only  5189  acres  remain  as 
meadows.  On  these  5189  acres,  1480  horses, 
7260  head  of  cattle,  900  sheep,  and  4200  pigs  are 
fed,  which  makes  more  than  3  head  of  cattle  per 
2  acres,  without  reckoning  the  sheep  or  the  pigs. 
It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is 
made  by  seaweed  and  chemical  manures. 

Returning  to  our  3  J  million  inhabitants  belong- 
ing to  Paris  and  its  environs,  we  see  that  the  land 
necessary  for  the  rearing  of  cattle  comes  down  from 
5  million  acres  to  197,000.  Well,  then,  let  us  not 
stop  at  the  lowest  figures,  let  us  take  those  of  ordi- 
nary intensive  culture;  let  us  liberally  add  to  the 
land  necessary  for  smaller  cattle  which  must  replace 
some  of  the  homed  beasts  and  allow  395,000  acres 
for  the  rearing  of  cattle  —  494,000  if  you  like,  on 
the  1,013,000  acres  remaining  after  bread  has  been 
provided  for  the  people. 

Let  us  be  generous  and  give  5  million  work-days 
to  put  this  land  into  a  productive  state. 

After  having  therefore  employed  in  the  course 


264  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

of  a  year  20  million  work-days,  half  of  which  are 
for  permanent  improvements,  we  shall  have  bread 
and  meat  assured  to  us,  without  including  all  the 
extra  meat  obtainable  in  the  shape  of  fowls,  pigs, 
rabbits,  etc. ;  without  taking  into  consideration  that 
a  population  provided  with  excellent  vegetables 
and  fruit  consumes  less  meat  than  Englishmen, 
who  supplement  their  poor  supply  of  vegetables  by 
animal  food.  Now,  how  much  do  20  million  work- 
days of  5  hours  make  per  inhabitant  ?  Very  little 
indeed.  A  population  of  3^  millions  must  have  at 
least  1,200,000  adult  men,  and  as  many  women 
capable  of  work.  Well,  then,  to  give  bread  and 
meat  to  all,  it  would  need  only  1 7  half -days  of  work 
a  year  per  man.  Add  3  million  work-days,  or  double 
that  number  if  you  like,  in  order  to  obtain  milk. 
That  will  make  25  work-days  of  5  hours  in  all — 
nothing  more  than  a  little  pleasurable  country 
exercise  —  to  obtain  the  three  principal  products  : 
bread,  meat,  and  milk.  The  three  products  which, 
after  housing,  cause  daily  anxiety  to  nine-tenths  of 
mankind. 

And  yet  —  let  us  not  tire  of  repeating  —  these  are 
not  fancy  dreams.  We  have  only  told  what  is, 
what  has  been,  obtained  by  experience  on  a  large 
scale.  Agriculture  could  be  reorganized  in  this  way 
to-morrow  if  property  laws  and  general  ignorance 
did  not  offer  opposition. 

The  day  Paris  has  understood  that  to  know 
what  you  eat  and  how  it  is  produced,  is  a  question 
of  public  interest;  the  day  when  everybody  will 
have  understood  that  this  question  is  infinitely  more 


Agriculture  265 

important  than  all  the  parliamentary  debates  of  the 
present  times  —  on  that  day  the  Revolution  will  be 
an  accomplished  fact.  Paris  will  take  possession 
of  the  two  departments  and  cultivate  them.  And 
then  the  Parisian  worker,  after  having  laboured 
a  third  of  his  existence  in  order  to  buy  bad  and 
insufficient  food,  will  produce  it  himself,  under  his 
walls,  within  the  enclosure  of  his  forts  (if  they  still 
exist),  in  a  few  hours  of  healthy  and  attractive 
work. 

And  now  we  pass  on  to  fruit  and  vegetables. 
Let  us  go  outside  Paris  and  visit  the  establishment 
of  a  market-gardener  who  accomplishes  wonders 
(ignored  by  learned  economists)  at  a  few  miles  from 
the  academies. 

Let  us  visit,  suppose,  M.  Ponce,  the  author  of  a 
work  on  market-gardening,  who  makes  no  secret  of 
what  the  earth  yields  him,  and  who  has  published 
it  all  along. 

M.  Ponce,  and  especially  his  workmen,  work 
like  niggers.  It  takes  eight  men  to  cultivate  a  plot 
a  little  less  than  3  acres  (2^^).  They  work  12,  and 
even  1 5  hours  a  day,  that  is  to  say,  three  times  more 
than  is  needed.  Twenty-four  of  them  would  not 
be  too  many.  To  which  M.  Ponce  will  probably 
answer  that  as  he  pays  the  terrible  sum  of  ;^  100  rent 
a  year  for  his  23^^  acres  of  land,  and  ;^ioo  for  manure 
bought  in  the  barracks,  he  is  obliged  to  exploit. 
He  would  no  doubt  answer,  "  Being  exploited,  I 
exploit  in  my  turn."  His  installation  has  also  cost 
him  £1200,  of  which  certainly  more  than  half  went 
as  tribute  to  the  idle  barons  of  industry.     In  reality, 


266  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

this  establishment  represents  at  most  3000  work- 
days, probably  much  less. 

But  let  us  examine  his  crops:  nearly  10  tons  of 
carrots,  nearly  10  tons  of  onions,  radishes,  and  small 
vegetables,  6000  heads  of  cabbage,  3000  heads  of 
cauliflower,  5000  baskets  of  tomatoes,  5000  dozen 
of  choice  fruit,  154,000  salads;  in  short,  a  total 
of  123  tons  of  vegetables  and  fruit  to  2^-^  acres  — 
120  yards  long  by  109  yards  broad,  which  makes 
more  than  44  tons  of  vegetables  to  the  acre. 

But  a  man  does  not  eat  more  than  660  lb.  of 
vegetables  and  fruit  a  year,  and  2^  acres  of  a  market- 
garden  yield  enough  vegetables  and  fruit  to  richly 
supply  the  table  of  350  adults  during  the  year. 
Thus  24  persons  employed  a  whole  year  in  culti- 
vating 2  j;"^^  acres  of  land,  and  only  working  5  hours  a 
day,  would  produce  sufficient  vegetables  and  fruit 
for  350  adults,  which  is  equivalent  at  least  to  500 
individuals. 

.  To  put  it  in  another  way:  in  cultivating  like 
M.  Ponce  —  and  his  results  have  already  been 
surpassed  —  350  adults  should  each  give  a  little 
more  than  100  hours  a  year  (103)  to  produce  vege- 
tables and  fruit  necessary  for  500  people. 

Let  us  mention  that  such  a  production  is  not  the 
exception.  It  takes  place,  under  the  walls  of  Paris, 
on  an  area  of  2220  acres,  by  5000  market-gardeners. 
Only  these  market-gardeners  are  reduced  nowadays 
to  a  state  of  beasts  of  burden,  in  order  to  pay  an 
average  rent  of  ;;^32  per  acre. 

But  do  not  these  facts,  which  can  be  verified  by 
every  one,  prove  that  17,300  acres  (of  the  519,000 


Agriculture  267 

remaining  to  us)  would  suffice  to  give  all  necessary- 
vegetables,  as  well  as  a  liberal  amount  of  fruit  to 
the  3^  millions  inhabitants  of  our  two  departments  ? 
As  to  the  quantity  of  work  necessary  to  produce 
these  fruits  and  vegetables,  it  would  amount  to 
50  million  work-days  of  5  hours  (50  days  per  adult 
male),  if  we  measure  by  the  market-gardeners' 
standard  of  work.  But  we  could  reduce  this 
quantity  if  we  had  recourse  to  the  process  in  vogue 
in  Jersey  and  Guernsey.  We  must  also  remember 
that  the  Paris  market-gardener  is  forced  to  work 
so  hard  because  he  mostly  produces  early  season 
fruits,  the  high  prices  of  which  have  to  pay  for 
fabulous  rents,  and  that  this  system  of  culture 
entails  more  work  than  is  really  necessary.  The 
market-gardeners  of  Paris,  not  having  the  means  to 
make  a  great  outlay  on  their  gardens,  and  being 
obliged  to  pay  heavily  for  glass,  wood,  iron,  and 
coal,  obtain  their  artificial  heat  out  of  manure, 
while  it  can  be  had  at  much  less  cost  in  hothouses. 


IV 

The  market-gardeners,  we  say,  are  forced  to 
become  machines  and  to  renounce  all  joys  of  life 
to  obtain  their  marvellous  crops.  But  these  hard 
grinders  have  rendered  a  great  service  to  humanity 
in  teaching  us  that  the  soil  can  be  "made."  They 
make  it  with  old  hotbeds  of  manure,  which  have 
already  served  to  give  the  necessary  warmth  to 
young  plants  and  to  early  fruit;  and  they  make  it 
in  such  great  quantity  that  they  are  compelled  to 


268  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

sell  it  in  part,  otherwise  it  would  raise  the  level  of 
their  gardens  by  one  inch  every  year.  They  do  it 
so  well  (so  Barral  teaches  us,  in  his  "  Dictionary  of 
Agriculture,"  in  an  article  on  market-gardeners) 
that  in  recent  contracts,  the  market-gardener  stipu- 
lates that  he  will  carry  away  his  soil  with  him  when 
he  leaves  the  bit  of  ground  he  is  cultivating.  Loam 
carried  away  on  carts,  with  furniture  and  glass 
frames  —  that  is  the  answer  of  practical  cultivators 
to  the  learned  treatises  of  a  Ricardo,  who  repre- 
sented rent  as  a  means  of  equalizing  the  natural 
advantages  of  the  soil.  'The  soil  is  worth  what 
man  is  worth,"  that  is  the  gardeners'  motto. 

And  yet  the  market-gardeners  of  Paris  and 
Rouen  labour  three  times  as  hard  to  obtain  the 
same  results  as  their  fellow-workers  in  Guernsey 
or  in  England.  Applying  industry  to  agriculture, 
these  last  make  their  climate  in  addition  to  their 
soil,  by  means  of  the  greenhouse. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  greenhouse  was  the  luxury 
of  the  rich.  It  was  kept  to  grow  exotic  plants  for 
pleasure.  But  nowadays  its  use  begins  to  be 
generalized.  A  tremendous  industry  has  grown 
up  lately  in  Guernsey  and  Jersey,  where  hundreds 
of  acres  are  already  covered  with  glass  —  to  say 
nothing  of  the  countless  small  greenhouses  kept  in 
every  little  farm  garden.  Acres  and  acres  of 
greenhouses  have  lately  been  built  also  at  Worth- 
ing, in  the  suburbs  of  London,  and  in  several  other 
parts  of  England  and  Scotland. 

They  are  built  of  all  qualities,  beginning  with 
those   which   have   granite   walls,    down   to   those 


Agriculture  269 

which  represent  mere  shelters  made  in  planks  and 
glass  frames,  which  cost,  even  now,  with  all  the 
tribute  paid  to  capitalists  and  middlemen,  less 
than  3s.  6d.  per  square  yard  under  glass.  Most  of 
them  are  heated  for  at  least  three  or  four  months 
every  year;  but  even  the  cool  greenhouses,  which 
are  not  heated  at  all,  give  excellent  results  —  of 
course,  not  for  growing  grapes  and  tropical  plants, 
but  for  potatoes,  carrots,  peas,  tomatoes,  and 
so  on. 

In  this  way  man  emancipates  himself  from 
climate,  and  at  the  same  time  he  avoids  also  the 
heavy  work  with  the  hot-beds,  and  he  saves  both 
in  buying  much  less  manure  and  in  work.  Three 
men  to  the  acre,  each  of  them  working  less  than 
sixty  hours  a  week,  grow  on  very  small  spaces 
what  formerly  required  acres  and  acres  of  land. 

The  result  of  all  these  recent  conquests  of  cul- 
ture is,  that  if  one  half  only  of  the  adults  of  a  city 
gave  each  about  fifty  half -days  for  the  culture  of 
the  finest  fruit  and  vegetables  out  of  season,  they 
would  have  all  the  year  round  an  unlimited  supply 
of  that  sort  of  fruit  and  vegetables  for  the  whole 
population. 

But  there  is  a  still  more  important  fact  to 
notice.  The  greenhouse  has  nowadays  a  tendency 
to  become  a  mere  kitchen  garden  under  glass. 
And  when  it  is  used  to  such  a  purpose,  the  simplest 
plank-and-glass  unheated  shelters  already  give  fabu- 
lous crops  —  such  as,  for  instance,  500  bushels  of 
potatoes  per  acre  as  a  first  crop,  ready  by  the  end 
of  April ;  after  which  a  second  and  a  third  crop  are 


270  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

obtained  in  the  extremely  high  temperature  which 
prevails  in  the  summer  under  glass. 

I  gave  in  my  "  Fields,  Factories,  and  Workshops," 
most  striking  facts  in  this  direction.  Sufficient  to 
say  here,  that  at  Jersey,  34  men,  with  one  trained 
gardener  only,  cultivate  13  acres  under  glass,  from 
which  they  obtain  143  tons  of  fruit  and  early 
vegetables,  using  for  this  extraordinary  culture 
less  than  1000  tons  of  coal. 

And  this  is  done  now  in  Guernsey  and  Jersey  on 
a  very  large  scale,  quite  a  number  of  steamers 
constantly  plying  between  Guernsey  and  London, 
only  to  export  the  crops  of  the  greenhouses. 

Nowadays,  in  order  to  obtain  that  same  crop  of 
500  bushels  of  potatoes,  we  must  plough  every  year 
a  surface  of  4  acres,  plant  it,  cultivate  it,  weed  it, 
and  so  on ;  whereas  with  the  glass,  even  if  we  shall 
have  to  give  perhaps,  to  start  with,  half  a  day's 
work  per  square  yard  in  order  to  build  the  green- 
house —  we  shall  save  afterwards  at  least  one-half, 
and  probably  three-quarters  of  the  fonnerly  required 
yearly  labour. 

These  are  facts,  results  which  every  one  can  verify 
himself.  And  these  facts  are  already  a  hint  as  to 
what  man  could  obtain  from  the  earth  if  he  treated 
it  with  intelligence. 


In  all  the  above  we  have  reasoned  upon  what 
already  withstood  the  test  of  experience.  Inten- 
sive culture  of  the  fields,  irrigated  meadows,  the 
hothouse,    and    finally   the   kitchen   garden   under 


Agriculture  271 

glass  are  realities.  Moreover,  the  tendency  is  to 
extend  and  to  generalize  these  methods  of  culture, 
because  they  allow  of  obtaining  more  produce  with 
less  work  and  with  more  certainty. 

In  fact,  after  having  studied  the  most  simple 
glass  shelters  of  Guernsey,  we  affirm  that,  taking 
all  in  all,  far  less  work  is  expended  for  obtaining 
potatoes  under  glass  in  April,  than  in  growing  them 
in  the  open  air,  which  requires  digging  a  space  four 
times  as  large,  watering  it,  weeding  it,  etc.  Work 
is  likewise  economized  in  employing  a  perfected  tool 
or  machine,  even  when  an  initial  expense  had  to  be 
incurred  to  buy  the  tool. 

Complete  figures  concerning  the  culture  of  com- 
mon vegetables  under  glass  are  still  wanting.  This 
culture  is  of  recent  origin,  and  is  only  carried  out 
on  small  areas.  But  we  have  already  figures  con- 
cerning the  fifty  years  old  culture  of  early  season 
grapes,  and  these  figures  are  conclusive. 

In  the  north  of  England,  on  the  Scotch  frontier, 
where  coal  only  costs  3s.  a  ton  at  the  pit's  mouth, 
they  have  long  since  taken  to  growing  hothouse 
grapes.  Thirty  years  ago  these  grapes,  ripe  in 
January,  were  sold  by  the  grower  at  20s.  per  lb. 
and  resold  at  40s.  per  lb.  for  Napoleon  Ill's  table. 
To-day  the  same  grower  sells  them  at  only  2s.  6d, 
per  lb.  He  tells  us  so  himself  in  a  horticultural 
journal.  The  fall  is  caused  by  tons  and  tons  of 
grapes  arriving  in  January  to  London  and  Paris. 

Thanks  to  the  cheapness  of  coal  and  an  intelli- 
gent culture,  grapes  from  the  north  travel  now 
southwards,   in   a   contrary   direction   to   ordinary 


272  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

fruit.  They  cost  so  little  that  in  May,  English  and 
Jersey  grapes  are  sold  at  is.  8d.  per  lb.  by  the  gar- 
deners, and  yet  this  price,  like  that  of  40s.  thirty 
years  ago,  is  only  kept  up  by  slack  production. 

In  March,  Belgium  grapes  are  sold  at  from 
6d.  to  8d.,  while  in  October,  grapes  cultivated  in 
immense  quantities  —  under  glass,  and  with  a  little 
artificial  heating  in  the  environs  of  London  —  are 
sold  at  the  same  price  as  grapes  bought  by  the  pound 
in  the  vineyards  of  Switzerland  and  the  Rhine,  that 
is  to  say,  for  a  few  halfpence.  Yet  they  still  cost 
two-thirds  too  much,  by  reason  of  the  excessive  rent 
of  the  soil  and  the  cost  of  installation  and  heating, 
on  which  the  gardener  pays  a  formidable  tribute 
to  the  manufacturer  and  middleman.  This  being 
understood,  we  may  say  that  it  costs  "next  to 
nothing"  to  have  delicious  grapes  under  the  latitude 
of,  and  in  our  misty  London  in  autumn.  In  one  of 
the  suburbs,  for  instance,  a  wretched  glass  and 
plaster  shelter,  9  ft.  10  in.  long  by  6^  ft.  wide, 
resting  against  our  cottage,  gave  us  about  fifty 
pounds  of  grapes  of  an  exquisite  taste  in  October, 
for  nine  consecutive  years.  The  crop  came  from  a 
Hamburg  vine-stalk,  six  years  old.  And  the  shelter 
was  so  bad  that  the  rain  came  through.  At  night 
the  temperature  was  always  that  of  outside.  It 
was  evidently  not  heated,  for  that  would  be  as 
useless  as  to  heat  the  street!  And  the  cares  to  be 
given  were:  pruning  the  vine  half  an  hour  every 
year;  and  bringing  a  wheelbarrowful  of  manure, 
which  is  thrown  over  the  stalk  of  the  vine,  planted 
\n  red  clay  outside,  the  shelter. 


Agriculture  273 

On  the  other  hand,  if  we  estimate  the  amount  of 
care  given  to  the  vine  on  the  borders  of  the  Rhine 
or  Lake  Leman,  the  terraces  constructed  stone  upon 
stone  on  the  slopes  of  the  hills,  the  transport  of 
manure  and  also  of  earth  to  a  height  of  two  or  three 
hundred  feet,  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  on 
the  whole  the  expenditure  of  work  necessary  to  cul- 
tivate vines  is  more  considerable  in  Switzerland  or 
on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  than  it  is  under  glass  in 
London  suburbs. 

This  may  seem  paradoxical,  because  it  is  generally 
believed  that  vines  grow  of  themselves  in  the  south 
of  Europe,  and  that  the  vinegrower's  work  costs 
nothing.  But  gardeners  and  horticulturists,  far 
from  contradicting  us,  confirm  our  assertions. 
"The  most  advantageous  culture  in  England  is  vine 
culture,"  wrote  a  practical  gardener,  editor  of  the 
"English  Journal  of  Horticulture."  Prices  speak 
eloquently  for  themselves,  as  we  know. 

Translating  these  facts  into  communist  language, 
we  may  assert  that  the  man  or  woman  who  takes 
twenty  hours  a  year  from  his  leisure  time  to  give 
some  little  care  —  very  pleasant  in  the  main  —  to 
two  or  three  vine-stalks  sheltered  by  simple  glass 
under  any  European  climate,  will  gather  as  many 
grapes  as  their  family  and  friends  can  eat.  And 
that  applies  not  only  to  vines,  but  to  all  fruit  trees. 

The  Commune  that  will  put  the  processes  of 
intensive  ctilture  into  practice  on  a  large  scale  will 
have  all  possible  vegetables,  indigenous  or  exotic, 
and  all  desirable  fruits,  without  employing  more 
than  about  ten  hours  a  year  per  inhabitant. 


274  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

In  fact,  nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  verify 
the  above  statements  by  direct  experiment.  Sup- 
pose loo  acres  of  a  light  loam  (such  as  we  have  at 
Worthing)  are  transformed  into  a  number  of  market 
gardens,  each  one  with  its  glass  houses  for  the  rear- 
ing of  the  seedlings  and  young  plants.  Suppose  also 
that  50  more  acres  are  covered  with  glass  houses, 
and  the  organization  of  the  whole  is  left  to  practical 
experienced  French  maratchers,  and  Guernsey  or 
Worthing  greenhouse  gardeners. 

In  basing  the  maintenance  of  these  150  acres  on 
the  Jersey  average,  requiring  the  work  of  three  men 
per  acre  under  glass  —  which  makes  less  than  8,600 
hours  of  work  a  year  —  it  would  need  about 
1,300,000  hours  for  the  150  acres.  Fifty  competent 
gardeners  could  give  five  hours  a  day  to  this  work, 
and  the  rest  would  be  simply  done  by  people  who, 
without  being  gardeners  by  profession,  would  soon 
learn  how  to  use  a  spade,  and  to  handle  the  plants. 
But  this  work  would  yield  at  least  —  we  have  seen 
it  in  a  preceding  chapter  —  all  necessaries  and 
articles  of  luxury  in  the  way  of  fruit  and  vegetables 
for  at  least  40,000  or  50,000  people.  Let  us  admit 
that  among  this  number  there  are  13,500  adults, 
willing  to  work  at  the  kitchen-garden;  then,  each 
one  would  have  to  give  100  hours  a  year  distrib- 
uted over  the  whole  year.  These  hours  of  work 
would  become  hours  of  recreation  spent  among 
friends  and  children  in  beautiful  gardens,  more 
beautiful  probably  than  those  of  the  legendary 
Semiramis. 

This  is  the  balance  sheet  of  the  labour  to  be  spent 


Agriculture  275 

in  order  to  be  able  to  eat  to  satiety  fruit  which  we 
are  deprived  of  to-day,  and  to  have  vegetables  in 
abundance,  now  so  scrupulously  rationed  out  by 
the  housewife,  when  she  has  to  reckon  each  half- 
penny which  must  go  to  enrich  capitalists  and 
landowners  (2). 

If  only  humanity  had  the  consciousness  of  what 
it  CAN,  and  if  that  consciousness  only  gave  it  the 
power  to  will ! 

If  it  only  knew  that  cowardice  of  the  spirit  is 
the  rock  on  which  all  revolutions  have  stranded 
until  now. 

VI 

We  can  easily  perceive  the  new  horizons  opening 
before  the  social  revolution. 

Each  time  we  speak  of  revolution,  the  worker 
who  has  seen  children  wanting  food  lowers  his  brow 
and  repeats  obstinately  —  "What  of  bread?  Will 
there  be  sufficient  if  everyone  eats  according  to  his 
appetite?  What  if  the  peasants,  ignorant  tools 
of  reaction,  starve  our  towns  as  the  black  bands 
did  in  France  in  1 793  —  what  shall  we  do  ? " 

Let  them  do  their  worst!  The  large  cities  will 
have  to  do  without  them. 

At  what,  then,  should  the  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  workers,  who  are  asphyxiated  to-day  in  small 
workshops  and  factories,  be  employed  on  the  day 
they  regain  their  liberty?  Will  they  continue  lock- 
ing themselves  up  in  factories  after  the  Revolution  ? 
Will  they  continue  to  make  luxurious  toys  for 
export  when  they  see  their  stock  of  com  getting 


276  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

exhausted,  meat  becoming  scarce,  and  vegetables 
disappearing  without  being  replaced  ? 

Evidently  not!  They  will  leave  the  town  and 
go  into  the  fields!  Aidfed  by  a  machinery  which 
will  enable  the  weakest  of  us  to  put  a  shoulder  to 
the  wheel,  they  will  carry  revolution  into  pre- 
viously enslaved  culture  as  they  will  have  carried 
it  into  institutions  and  ideas. 

Hundreds  of  acres  will  be  covered  with  glass,  and 
men,  and  women  with  delicate  fingers,  will  foster 
the  growth  of  young  plants.  Hundreds  of  other 
acres  will  be  ploughed  by  steam,  improved  by 
manures,  or  enriched  by  artificial  soil  obtained  by 
the  pulverization  of  rocks.  Happy  crowds  of 
occasional  labourers  will  cover  these  acres  with 
crops,  guided  in  the  work  and  experiments  partly 
by  those  who  know  agriculture,  but  especially  by 
the  great  and  practical  spirit  of  a  people  roused 
from  long  slumber  and  illumined  by  that  bright 
beacon  —  the  happiness  of  all. 

And  in  two  or  three  months  the  early  crops 
will  relieve  the  most  pressing  wants,  and  provide 
food  for  a  people  who,  after  so  many  centuries  of 
expectation,  will  at  least  be  able  to  appease  their 
hunger  and  eat  according  to  their  appetite. 

In  the  meanwhile,  popular  genius,  the  genius  of 
a  nation  which  revolts  and  knows  its  wants,  will 
work  at  experimenting  with  new  processes  of  culture 
that  we  already  catch  a  glimpse  of,  and  that  only 
need  the  baptism  of  experience  to  become  universal. 
Light  will  be  experimented  with  —  that  unknown 
agent    of    culture   which    makes    barley    ripen    in 


Agriculture  277 

forty-five  days  under  the  latitude  of  Yakutsk;  light, 
concentrated  or  artificial,  will  rival  heat  in  hastening 
the  growth  of  plants.  A  Mouchot  of  the  future 
will  invent  a  machine  to  guide  the  rays  of  the  sun 
and  make  them  work,  so  that  we  shall  no  longer 
seek  sun -heat  stored  in  coal  in  the  depths  of.  the 
earth.  They  will  experiment  the  watering  of  the 
soil  with  cultures  of  micro-organisms  —  a  rational 
idea,  conceived  but  yesterday,  which  will  permit 
us  to  give  to  the  soil  those  little  living  beings, 
necessary  to  feed  the  rootlets,  to  decompose  and 
assimilate  the  component  parts  of  the  soil. 

They  will  experiment.  .  .  .  But  let  us  stop  here, 
or  we  shall  enter  into  the  realm  of  fancy.  Let  us 
remain  in  the  reality  of  acquired  facts.  With  the 
processes  of  culture  in  use,  applied  on  a  large  scale, 
and  already  victorious  in  the  struggle  against  indus- 
trial competition,  we  can  give  ourselves  ease  and 
luxury  in  return  for  agreeable  work.  The  near 
future  will  show  what  is  practical  in  the  processes 
that  recent  scientific  discoveries  give  us  a  glimpse  of. 
Let  us  limit  ourselves  at  present  to  opening  up  the 
new  path  that  consists  in  the  study  of  the  needs  of 
man,  and  the  means  of  satisfying  them. 

The  only  thing  that  may  be  wanting  to  the 
Revolution  is  the  boldness  of  initiative. 

With  our  minds  already  narrowed  in  our  youth, 
enslaved  by  the  past  in  our  mature  age  and  till 
the  grave,  we  hardly  dare  to  think.  If  a  new  idea 
is  mentioned  —  before  venturing  on  an  opinion  of  our 
own,  we  consult  musty  books  a  hundred  years  old,  to 
know  what  ancient  masters  thought  on  the  subject. 


278  The  Conquest  of  Bread 

It  is  not  food  that  will  fail,  if  boldness  of 
thought  and  initiative  are  not  wanting  to  the 
revolution. 

Of  all  the  great  days  of  the  French  Revolution, 
the  most  beautiful,  the  greatest,  was  the  one  on 
which  delegates  who  had  come  from  all  parts  of 
France  to  Paris,  worked  all  with  the  'spade  to  plane 
the  ground  of  the  Champ  de  Mars,  preparing  it  for 
the  fete  of  the  Federation. 

That  day  France  was  united:  animated  by  the 
new  spirit,  she  had  a  vision  of  the  future  in  the 
working  in  common  of  the  soil. 

And  it  will  again  be  by  the  working  in  common  of 
the  soil  that  the  enfranchized  societies  will  find  their 
unity  and  will  obliterate  hatred  and  oppression 
which  had  divided  them. 

Henceforth,  able  to  conceive  solidarity  —  that 
immense  power  which  increases  man's  energy  and 
creative  forces  a  hundredfold  —  the  new  society  will 
march  to  the  conquest  of  the  future  with  all  the 
vigour  of  youth. 

Leaving  off  production  for  unknown  buyers,  and 
looking  in  its  midst  for  needs  and  tastes  to  be  satis- 
fied, society  will  liberally  assure  the  life  and  ease  of 
each  of  its  members,  as  well  as  that  moral  satisfaction 
which  work  gives  when  freely  chosen  and  freely 
accomplished,  and  the  joy  of  living  without 
encroaching  on  the  life  of  others. 

Inspired  by  a  new  daring  —  thanks  to  the  senti- 
ment of  solidarity  —  all  will  march  together  to 
the  conquest  of  the  high  joys  of  knowledge  and 
artistic  creation. 


Agriculture  279 

A  society  thus  inspired  will  fear  neither  dissen- 
sions within  nor  enemies  without.  To  the  coali- 
tions of  the  past  it  will  oppose  a  new  harmony,  the 
initiative  of  each  and  all,  the  daring  which  springs 
from  the  awakening  of  a  people's  genius. 

Before  such  an  irresistible  force  "conspirini; 
kings"  will  be  powerless.  Nothing  will  remain 
for  them  but  to  bow  before  it,  and  to  harness 
themselves  to  the  chariot  of  humanity,  rolling 
towards  new  horizons  opened  up  by  the  Social 
Revolution. 


NOTES 


(i)  Consult  "La  Repartition  m^trique  des  impots,"  by 
A.  Toubeau,  two  vols.,  published  by  Guillaumin  in  1880. 
(We  do  not  in  the  least  agree  with  Toubeau 's  conclu- 
sions, but  it  is  a  real  encyclopaedia,  indicating  the  sources 
which  prove  what  can  be  obtained  from  the  soil.)  "  La 
Culture  maraichere,"  by  M.  Ponce,  Paris,  1869.  "Le 
Potager  Gressent,"  Paris,  1885,  an  excellent  practical 
work,  "Physiologic  et  culture  du  bl^,"  by  Risler,  Paris, 
1 88 1.  "Le  h\6,  sa  culture  intensive  et  extensive,"  by 
Lecouteux,  Paris,  1883.  "La  Cit6  Chinoise,"  by  Eugene 
Simon.  "Le  dictionnaire  d 'agriculture,"  by  Barral 
(Hachette,  editor).  "The  Rothamstead  Experiments," 
by  Wm.  Fream,  London,  1888  —  culture  without 
manure,  etc.  (the  "Field"  office,  editor).  "Fields, 
Factories,  and  Workshops,"  by  the  author.  London 
(Swan  Sonnenschein) ;  cheap  editions  at  6d.  and  is. 

(2)  Summing  up  the  figures  given  on  agricultiu"e, 
figures  proving  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  d^parte- 
ments  of  Seine  and  Seine-et-Oise  can  perfectly  well  live 
on  their  own  territory  by  employing  very  little  time 
annually  to  obtain  food,  we  have:  — 

Departments  op  Seine  and  Seine-et-Oise 

Niunber  of  inhabitants  in  1 889 3,900,000 

Area  in  acres 1,507,300 

Average  number  of  inhabitants  per  acre    .  2.6 


Notes  281 

Areas    to  be  cultivated  to  feed  the  inhabitants  (in 
acres) : — 

Com  and  cereals 494,000 

Natural  and  artificial  meadows 494,000 

Vegetables  and  fruit      ....    from  17,300  to  25,000 
Leaving  a  balance  for  houses,  roads,  parks, 

forests 494,000 

Quantity  of  annual  work  necessary  to  improve  and 
cultivate  the  above  surfaces  in  five-hour  work -days .  — 

Cereals  (culture  and  crop) 15,000,000 

Meadows,  milk,  rearing  of  cattle    ....  10,000,000 

Market-gardening  culture,  high-class  fruit,  33,000,000 

Extras , 12,000,000 

Total       70,000,000 

If  we  suppose  that  half  only  of  the  able-bodied  adults 
(men  and  women)  are  willing  to  work  at  agriculture,  we 
see  that  70  million  work -days  must  be  divided  among 
1,200,000  individuals,  which  gives  us  58  work -days  of 
5  hours  for  each  of  these  workers.  With  that  the 
population  of  the  two  departments  would  have  all  neces- 
sary bread,  meat,  milk,  vegetables,  and  fruit,  both  ordi- 
nary and  luxury.  To-day  a  workman  spends  for  the 
necessary  food  of  his  family  (generally  less  than  what  is 
necessary)  at  least  one-third  of  his  300  work -days  a  year, 
about  1000  hours  be  it,  instead  of  290.  That  is,  he  thus 
gives  about  700  hours  too  much  to  fatten  the  idle  and 
the  would-be  administrators,  because  he  does  not  produce 
his  own  food,  but  buys  it  of  middlemen,  who  in  their 
tum  buy  it  of  peasants  who  exhaust  themselves  by 
working  with  bad  tools,  because,  being  robbed  by  the 
landowners  and  the  State,  they  cannot  procure  better 
ones. 


Fields, 
Factories,  and  Workshops 

or 

Industry  Combined  with  Agriculture,  and 
Brain  Work  with  Manual  Work 

By  PRINCE  KROPOTKIN 

New  Edition,  1 6°     .     .     .     90  cents  net 


"  Prince  Kropotkin  possesses  the  general  scientific  temper.  .  .  . 
He  seems  to  have  been  everywhere  and  to  have  read  everything 
so  that  his  observations  have  certainly  been  widely  extended.  .  .  . 
A  book  that  should  set  people  thinking  and  should  lead  them  to 
try  by  practical  experience  to  lessen  soms  of  the  acknowledged 
evils  of  the  present  system." — The  Times,  London. 

"  Our  readers  are  recommended  to  read  carefully  Kropotkin's 
survey  of  manufacturing  progress  in  foreign  countries.  .  .  .  This 
is  clear  and  concise  and  presents  just  the  kind  of  summary  re- 
quired by  those  who,  without  time  for  intricate  details,  must  rest 
content  with  a  general  statement  of  the  world's  industrial  move- 
ment. Particularly  interesting  is  the  description  of  the  wonder- 
ful advance  now  being  made  in  agricultural  methods,  .  .  .  The 
book  is  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  discussion  of  a  prob- 
lem of  national  and  of  world-wide  importance."  —  The  Daily 
jVews,  London. 

"  A  book  which  is  an  admirable  example  of  its  author's  lucid- 
ity of  style  and  of  his  capacity  for  making  vital  with  human 
interest  dry  statistical  and  industrial  facts.  ...  A  work  that 
presents  a  new  outlook  in  social  economics  and  is  at  the  same 
time  most  forcible  in  its  demonstration  of  fact." — London  West- 
minster Gazette. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

New  York  London 


The  Great 
French  Revolution 

By 

Prince  Kropotkin 

Author  of  "  Fields,  Factories,  and  Workshops,"  etc. 
8vo.     $2.25  net.     By  mail,  $2.50 

The  author  explains  the  main  purpose  of  his 
study  of  the  French  Revolution,  emphasising 
the  great  part  played  in  the  struggle  by  the 
"people,"  that  is  to  say,  the  people  of  the 
lower  stratum  which  might  in  the  history  of 
time  be  classed  as  the  "  Fourth  Estate."  He 
points  out  that  the  historians  of  the  period  have 
very  largely  overlooked  or  neglected  this  phase 
of  the  causation  of  events.  He  traces  back  the 
events  in  later  revolutions,  more  particularly  of 
that  in  1848  and  in  the  present  more-or-less 
piecemeal  attempts  made  by  the  "Fourth 
Estate  "  to  secure  recognition,  if  not  control,  to 
the  work  done  by  the  leaders  of  the  populace 
in  France  in  1783-9.  He  has  thought  it  worth 
while  to  bring  into  his  special  study  an  outline 
of  the  general  events  of  the  Revolution,  in  the 
belief  that  a  number  of  the  readers  of  his  book 
will  not  have  read  any  other  of  the  histories. 

Q.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


The  Psychology  of 
Revolution 

By  Gustave  Le  Bon 

Anfhor  of  "  The  Crowd :  A  Study  of  the  Popular  Mind  " 
Translated  by  Bernard  Miall 

8\    557  Pages.    $2. SO  net.    By  mail,  $2.75 

Brief   Contents 

Part  I. — ^The  Psychological  Elements  of  Revolutionary- 
Movements — General  Characteristics  of  Revolutions 
— ^The  Forms  of  Mentality  Prevalent  During 
Revolution. 

Part  II. — The  Origins  of  the  French  Revolution— The 
Rational,  Affective,  Mystic,  and  Collective  Influences 
Active  Ehiring  the  Revolution — ^The  Conflict  between 
Ancestral  Influences  and  Revolutionary  Principles. 

Part  III. — The  Recent  Evolution  of  the  Revolutionary 
Principles. 

A  book  of  an  arresting  character,  in  which  the  author 
makes  specific  appUcation  of  his  theory  of  crowds  to 
activities  in  which  the  influence  of  the  masses  is  most 
far-reaching.  In  it  are  discussed  with  that  graceful  turn 
of  phrase  of  which  the  author  is  a  master,  the  psychology 
of  revolutions  in  general,  whether  religious  or  political, 
and  the  mental  and  emotional  make-up  of  the  leaders  of 
such  movements,  with  very  special  and  detailed  con- 
sideration of  the  French  Revolution.  The  examples  are, 
by  preference,  chosen  from  French  history,  but  universal 
history  is  drawn  upon  too,  even  to  the  inclusion  of 
such  recent  events  as  the  political  cataclysms  in  Turkey, 
Portugal,  and  China. 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

No-w  YorK  London 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF 
STATES 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO 
ENGLISH  POLITICS 

By  J.  M.  ROBERTSON 

Author  of  *'  Patriotism  and  Empire,** 
*'  Trade  and  Tariffs,"  etc. 

S°.    $2.50  net.    By  maily  $2.75 

In  this  volume  the  author  brings  into  light 
the  ruling  forces  in  all  political  life,  ancient  and 
modem  alike.  The  book  serves  to  expound 
views  of  history  which  still  require  championing 
and  to  challenge  the  validity  of  formulas  which 
are  too  complacently  maintained.  In  the  course 
of  his  survey  the  author  presents  the  following 
topics  :  "  Political  Forces  in  Ancient  History," 
"  Economic  Forces  in  Ancient  History,"  "  Cul- 
tiu-e  Forces  in  Antiquity,"  "The  Case  of  the 
ItaHan  Republics,"  "  The  Fortunes  of  the  Lesser 
European  States,"  "English  History  till  the 
Constitutional  Period." 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


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